Icon and legend are two terms that are thrown around far too often and much too carelessly these days. However, if there was ever an entertainer, activist, Mother, wife and African-American that deserves the titles it is Lena Mary Calhoun Horne. Miss Horne is truly a legend and an icon.

Lena Horne was never one to let her aspirations for personal success stand in the way of her commitment to the civil rights struggle. In an age where she could certainly have gone even further in her career had she tried to denounce or hide her blackness and "pass" for white she stood shoulder to should with civil rights heroes and Presidents for what she believed in. Lena Horne is one of my heroes who I look to for examples of how to build a fulfilling artistic career while balancing my responsibility to make the world a little better for those who will come behind us.

Thank you Lena Horne for doing all you could to entertain us and leave the world a little better off than it was before you arrived. I love you and I appreciate you.

Ricky Day
May 10, 2010

Bio from wikipedia

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress and dancer.

Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather . Due to the red scare and her progressive political views, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood.

Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington, and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs as well as television, and releasing well received albums. In the early 1970s, her husband, son and father died within a period of twelve months. Horne announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway, and earned her numerous awards and accolades. Horne recorded sporadically following the show, but no longer made public appearances.

Horne was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Reported to be a descendant of the John C. Calhoun family, both sides of her family are a mixture of European, African, and Native American descent. Each were part of what W. E. B. Du Bois called "The Talented Tenth," the upper stratum of middle-class, well-educated African Americans. She grew up in an upper-middle-class black community. She was raised in the Hill District community of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father, Edwin "Teddy" Horne, a numbers kingpin in the gambling trade, left the family when she was three. Her mother, Edna Scottron, daughter of inventor Samuel R. Scottron, was an actress with an African-American theater troupe and traveled extensively.

Horne was mainly raised by her grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne. Her uncle, Frank S. Horne, was an adviser to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the dean of students at Fort Valley Junior Industrial Institute in Fort Valley GA. She attended Washington High School in Atlanta, where her Grandmother convinced her to join the NAACP. Horne also attended Girls High School, an all-girls public high school in Brooklyn, which has since become Boys & Girls High School, on Fulton Street; she dropped out without earning a diploma.

In the fall of 1933, Horne joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club in New York City. In the spring of 1934, she had a featured role in the Cotton Club Parade. A few years later she joined Noble Sissle's Orchestra and toured with this orchestra. After she separated from her first husband, Horne toured with bandleader Charlie Barnet in 1940–41, but disliked the travel and left the band to work at the Cafe Society in New York. She replaced Dinah Shore as the featured vocalist on NBC's popular jazz series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. The show's resident maestros, Henry Levine and Paul Laval, recorded with Horne in June 1941 for RCA Victor. Horne left the show after only six months to headline a nightclub revue on the west coast; she was replaced by Linda Keene.
Lena Horne photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1941

Horne already had two low-budget movies to her credit: a 1938 musical feature called The Duke is Tops (later reissued with Horne's name above the title as The Bronze Venus); and a 1941 two-reel short subject, Boogie Woogie Dream, featuring pianists Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons. Horne's songs from Boogie Woogie Dream were later released individually as Soundies. Horne was primarily a nightclub performer during this period, and it was during a 1943 club engagement in Hollywood that talent scouts approached Horne to work in pictures. She chose Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the most prestigious studio in the world, and became the first African American performer to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio.

She made her debut with MGM in 1942's Panama Hattie and became famous in 1943 for her rendition of the title song in Stormy Weather (1943 film) (which she made at 20th Century Fox, on loan from MGM). She appeared in a number of MGM musicals, most notably Cabin in the Sky (also 1943), but was never featured in a leading role becaus of her race and the fact that films featuring her had to be re-edited for showing in states where theaters could not show films with African American performers. As a result, most of Horne's film appearances were stand-alone sequences that had no bearing on the rest of the film, so editing caused no disruption to the storyline; a notable exception was the all-black musical Cabin in the Sky, though even then one of her numbers had to be cut because it was considered too suggestive by the censors. "Ain't it the Truth" was the song (and scene) cut before the release of the film Cabin in the Sky. It featured Horne singing "Ain't it the Truth," while taking a bubble bath (considered too "risqué" by the film's executives). This scene and song are featured in the film "That's Entertainment III", which also features commentary from Horne on why the scene was deleted prior to the film's release.

In Ziegfeld Follies (1946) she performs "Love" by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane.

Horne wanted to be considered for the role of Julie LaVerne in MGM's 1951 version of Show Boat (having already played the role when a segment of Show Boat was performed in Till the Clouds Roll By) but lost the part to Ava Gardner due to the Production Code's ban on interracial relationships in films. In the documentary That's Entertainment! III Horne stated that MGM executives required Gardner to practice her singing using Horne's recordings, which offended both actresses. Ultimately, Gardner's voice was overdubbed by actress (Annette Warren (Smith)) for the theatrical release, though her voice was heard on the soundtrack album).

Changes of direction

By the mid-1950s, Horne was disenchanted with Hollywood and increasingly focused on her nightclub career. She only made two major appearances in MGM films during the decade, 1950's Duchess of Idaho (which was also Eleanor Powell's film swan song), and the 1956 musical Meet Me in Las Vegas. She was blacklisted during the 1950s for her political views. She returned to the screen three more times, playing chanteuse Claire Quintana in the 1969 film Death of a Gunfighter, Glinda in The Wiz (1978), and co-hosting the 1994 MGM retrospective That's Entertainment! III, in which she was candid about her treatment by the studio.

After leaving Hollywood, Horne established herself as one of the premiere nightclub performers of the post-war era. She headlined at clubs and hotels throughout the US, Canada and Europe, including the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. In 1957, a live album entitled, "Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria," became the largest selling record by a female artist in the history of the RCA-Victor label.

From the late 1950s through the 1960s, Horne was a staple of TV variety shows, appearing multiple times on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show and The Bell Telephone Hour. Other programs included The Judy Garland Show, The Hollywood Palace and The Andy Williams Show. Besides two television specials for the BBC (later syndicated in the US), Horne starred in her own US television special in 1969, Monsanto Night Presents Lena Horne. During this decade, the artist Pete Hawley painted her portrait for RCA Victor, capturing the mood of her performance style.

In 1970, she co-starred with Harry Belafonte in the hour long "Harry & Lena" for ABC; in 1973, she co-starred with Tony Bennett in "Tony and Lena." Horne and Bennett subsequently toured the US and UK in a show together. A very memorable appearance was in the 1976 program "America Salutes Richard Rodgers," where she sang a lengthy medley of Rodgers songs with Peggy Lee and Vic Damone. Horne also made several appearances on The Flip Wilson Show.

Additionally, Horne played herself on television programs as The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Sanford and Son in the 1970s, as well as a 1985 performance on The Cosby Show and a 1993 appearance on A Different World.

In the summer of 1980, Horne, 63 years old and intent on retiring from show business, embarked on a two month series of benefit concerts sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta. These concerts were represented as Horne's farewell tour, yet her retirement lasted less than a year.

In May 1981, The Nederlander Organization, Michael Frazier and Fred Walker booked Horne for a four week engagement at the newly named Nederlander Theatre (formerly the Trafalgar, the Billy Rose and the National) on West 41st Street in New York City. The show was an instant success and was extended to a full year run, garnering Horne a special Tony award, and two Grammy Awards for the cast recording of her show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. The 333 performance Broadway run closed on Horne's 65 birthday, June 30, 1982. Later that same week, the entire show was performed again and video taped for television broadcast and home video release. The tour began a few days later at Tanglewood (MA) during the 1982 July 4 weekend. The Lady and Her Music toured 41 cities in the U.S and Canada through June 17, 1984. It played in London for a month in August and ended its run in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 1984.

In 1958, Horne was nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Actress in a Musical" (for her part in the "Calypso" musical Jamaica) In 1981 she received a Special Tony Award for her one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. Despite the show's considerable success (Horne still holds the record for the longest-running solo performance in Broadway history), she did not capitalize on the renewed interest in her career by undertaking many new musical projects. A proposed 1983 joint recording project between Horne and Frank Sinatra (to be produced by Quincy Jones) was ultimately abandoned, and her sole studio recording of the decade was 1988's The Men In My Life, featuring duets with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Joe Williams. In 1989, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 1990s found Horne considerably more active in the recording studio - all the more remarkable considering she was approaching her 80th year. Following her 1993 performance at a tribute to the musical legacy of her good friend Billy Strayhorn (Duke Ellington's longtime pianist and arranger), she decided to record an album composed largely of Strayhorn's and Ellington's songs the following year, We'll Be Together Again. To coincide with the release of the album, Horne made what would be her final concert performances at New York's Supper Club and Carnegie Hall. That same year, Horne also lent her vocals to a recording of "Embraceable You" on Sinatra's "Duets II" album. Though the album was largely derided by critics, the Sinatra-Horne pairing was generally regarded as its highlight. In 1995, a "live" album capturing her Supper Club performance was released (subsequently winning a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album). In 1998, at the age of 81, Horne released another studio album, entitled Being Myself. Thereafter, Horne essentially retired from performing and largely retreated from public view, though she did return to the recording studio in 2000 to contribute vocal tracks on Simon Rattle's Classic Ellington album.

Civil rights activism

Horne also is noteworthy for her contributions to the Civil Rights movement. In 1941, she sang at Cafe Society and worked with Paul Robeson, a singer who also combated American racial discrimination. During World War II, when entertaining the troops for the USO, she refused to perform "for segregated audiences or to groups in which German POWs were seated in front of African American servicemen" [6], according to her Kennedy Center biography. She was at an NAACP rally with Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi the weekend before Evers was assassinated. She also met President John F. Kennedy at the White House two days before he was assassinated. She was at the March on Washington and spoke and performed on behalf of the NAACP, SNCC and the National Council of Negro Women. She also worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching laws. She was a member of the prominent organization, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Tributes and rereleases

In 2003, ABC announced that Janet Jackson would star as Horne in a television biopic. In the weeks following Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" debacle during the 2004 Super Bowl, however, Variety reported that Horne demanded Jackson be dropped from the project. "ABC executives resisted Horne's demand," according to the Associated Press report, "but Jackson representatives told the trade newspaper that she left willingly after Horne and her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, asked that she not take part." Oprah Winfrey stated to Alicia Keys during a 2005 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show that she might possibly consider producing the biopic herself, casting Keys as Horne.

In January 2005, Blue Note Records, her label for more than a decade, announced that "the finishing touches have been put on a collection of rare and unreleased recordings by the legendary Horne made during her time on Blue Note. Remixed by her longtime producer Rodney Jones, the recordings featured Horne in remarkably secure voice for a woman of her years, and include versions of such signature songs as "Something to Live For", "Chelsea Bridge" and "Stormy Weather". The album, originally titled Soul but renamed Seasons of a Life, was released on January 24, 2006.

In 2007, Horne was portrayed by Leslie Uggams as the older Lena and Nikki Crawford as the younger Lena in the stage musical Stormy Weather staged at the Pasadena Playhouse in California (January through March 2009).

Personal life

Horne married Louis Jordan Jones in January 1937 and lived in Pittsburgh. In December 1937 they had a daughter, Gail, and in February 1940, a son, Edwin. Horne and Jones separated in 1940 and were divorced in 1944.

Horne's second marriage was to Lennie Hayton, a Jewish American and one of the premier musical conductors and arrangers at MGM, in December 1947. They separated in the early 1960s but were legally married at the time of his death in 1971. In her as-told-to autobiography Lena by Richard Schickel, Horne recounts the enormous pressures she and her husband faced as an interracial married couple. She later admitted in a 1980 Ebony interview she had married Hayton to advance her career and cross the "color-line" in show business.

Horne was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Screenwriter Jenny Lumet, known for her award-winning screenplay Rachel Getting Married, is Horne's granddaughter, the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet and Horne's daughter Gail.

Horne died on May 9, 2010, at the age of 92, at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

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Rihanna opened her tour in Europe and the reviews are not very good so far. Dutch fans say she seemed moody and it appeared as though she didn't wanna be on stage at all. They also said there wasn't much choreography, only 2 dancers and RiRi barely danced at all. Lastly, they also reported that her seven changes in and out of weird costumes seemed like a rip of Lady Gaga (which is hysterical because she isn't exactly original either if you ask Grace Jones.

I love Rihanna's songs and I hope to see the show and find out for myself. Until then there's YouTube.

1. Mad House
2. Russian Roulette
3. Hard
4. Shut Up And Drive
5. Fire Bomb
6. Disturbia
7. Rockstar 101
8. Rude Boy
9. Hate That I Love You
10. Rehab
11. Unfaithful
12. Stupid In Love
13. Te Amo
14. Photographs
15. Pon De Replay
16. Don't Stop The Music
17. Breakin' Dishes
18. The Glamorous Life (Sheila E. cover)
19. Let Me
20. SOS
21. Take A Bow
Encore:
22. Wait Your Turn
23. Live Your Life
24. Run This Town
25. Umbrella Play Video

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Posted by rickyday at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 11, 2010

LONDON (AP) -- British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead at his London home on Thursday, his spokeswoman said. He was 40 years old.

Company spokeswoman Samantha Garrett said McQueen's body was found in the morning but that she had no information "in terms of circumstances."

Police did not directly comment when asked about how McQueen died, but said officers were called by the ambulance service at 10:20 a.m. (1020GMT) to an address on Green Street, in central London, and found a 40-year-old man dead. They did not name him but said next of kin had been informed.

The force said a post-mortem would be held but that the death was not being treated as suspicious.

McQueen's death came days before London Fashion Week, although he was not scheduled to show in the British capital.

Fashion guru Isabella Blow, who helped launch McQueen's career, committed suicide almost three years ago.

Bio courtesy of Wikipedia

Born in the East End of London, the son of a taxi driver, McQueen started making dresses for his three sisters at a young age and announced his intention of becoming a fashion designer. He said that one of his earliest memories was from around the age of 3 when he drew a picture of a dress on a piece of bare wall which had been exposed by peeling wallpaper in the council house where his family lived. McQueen jokingly called it his first design sketch.
Career

McQueen left Rokeby School at 16, landing himself an apprenticeship with Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard, then working for Gieves & Hawkes and the famous theatrical costumiers Angels and Bermans. Whilst on Savile Row, McQueen's clients included Mikhail Gorbachev and Charles, Prince of Wales. At the age of 20, he spent a period of time working for Koji Tatsuno before travelling to Milan, Italy and working for Romeo Gigli.

McQueen returned to London in 1994 and applied to London's most prestigious fashion school, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design to work as a pattern cutter tutor. Due to the strength of his portfolio he was persuaded by the Head of the Masters course to enroll on the course as a student. He received his Masters degree in Fashion design and famously, his graduation collection was bought in its entirety by influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow, who was said to have persuaded McQueen to change his name from Lee to Alexander (his middle name) when he subsequently launched his fashion career.

Icelandic singer Björk sought McQueen's work for the cover of her album Homogenic in 1997.
Design history

Alexander McQueen's early runway collections developed his reputation for controversy and shock tactics (earning the title "l'enfant terrible" and "the hooligan of English fashion"), with trousers aptly named "bumsters", and a collection entitled "Highland Rape". McQueen was known for his lavish, unconventional runway shows, such as a recreation of a shipwreck for his spring 2003 collection, spring 2005’s human chess game and his fall 2006 show, Widows of Culloden, which featured a life-sized hologram of supermodel Kate Moss, dressed in yards of rippling fabric.
Givenchy appointment

The president of LVMH, Bernard Arnault caused a stir when he instated McQueen as head designer at Givenchy in 1996, succeeding John Galliano. Upon arrival at Givenchy, McQueen insulted the founder by calling him ‘irrelevant’. Thus, his first couture collection with Givenchy was unsuccessful, with even McQueen telling Vogue in October 1997 that the collection was “crap”. McQueen toned down his act at Givenchy, but continued to indulge his rebellious streak, causing controversy in Autumn 1998 with a show which included car-robots spraying paint over white cotton dresses, and double amputee model Aimee Mullins striding down the catwalk on intricately carved wooden legs. McQueen stayed with Givenchy until March 2001, when the contract he said was "constraining his creativity" was ended.
Accomplishments

Some of Alexander McQueen's accomplishments included being one of the youngest designers to achieve the title "British Designer of the Year", which he won four times between 1996 and 2003. He was also awarded the CBE, as well as being named International Designer of the Year at the Council of Fashion Designer Awards. December 2000 saw a new partnership for McQueen with Gucci Group acquiring 51% of the company, and McQueen serving as Creative Director. Plans for expansion included the opening of stores in London, Milan, and New York, and the launch of his perfumes Kingdom, and more recently My Queen. In 2005, McQueen collaborated with Puma to create a special line of trainers for the shoe brand.

McQueen became the first designer to participate in MAC's newest promotion: cosmetic releases created by fashion designers. The collection, McQueen, was released on 11 October 2007 and reflects the looks used on the Autumn/Winter McQueen catwalk. The inspiration for the collection was the Elizabeth Taylor movie Cleopatra, and thus the models sported intense blue, green, and teal eyes with strong black liner extended Egyptian-style. McQueen handpicked the makeup.
Company

By the end of 2007, Alexander McQueen had boutiques in New York, London, Los Angeles, Milan, and Las Vegas. Grammy winning trend setter Rihanna is one of the many famous celebrities that frequently wears Alexander McQueen, often seen wearing the pieces of clothing to events. Another is Lady GaGa, whose unique style often incorporates Alexander McQueen pieces in her music videos. As of 14 July 2008, the Alexander McQueen internet store has launched on the company website, allowing shoppers to purchase ready-to-wear and accessories online.
Death

His death was announced on 11 February 2010. He is believed to have committed suicide. A source at McQueen’s office confirmed his death to the Daily Mail, saying: ‘It is a tragic loss. We are not making a comment at this time out of respect for the McQueen family." McQueen was found dead at his London home and Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

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The Academy Awards nominations are in and this years crop of Oscar nominees are fan favorites, longshots and even a battle between ex's.

Lee Daniels and his groundbreaking drama Precious was nominated for several awards including Best Picture, Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique) and Best Director (Lee Daniels). James Cameron's Avatar and his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker were both nominated for 9 major awards each (and counting as the technical nominations are still being announced). It's gonna be fun watching people do that silly thing we do as people choose team Cameron vs. team Bigelow. Of course people of color and those who love the underdog will choose team Precious.

Home : Awards : Academy Awards : Nominees
Nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards
View by Category View by Picture
Actor in a Leading Role

* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
* Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
* Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

* Matt Damon in “Invictus”
* Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
* Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
* Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
* Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
* Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
* Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

* Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film

* “Coraline” Henry Selick
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
* “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
* “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
* “Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction

* “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
* “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
* “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
* “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
* “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

* “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
* “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
* “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
* “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
* “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design

* “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
* “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
* “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
* “Nine” Colleen Atwood
* “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing

* “Avatar” James Cameron
* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
* “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
* “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)

* “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
* “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
* “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
* “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
* “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

* “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
* “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
* “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
* “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
* “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

* “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
* “District 9” Julian Clarke
* “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
* “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

* “Ajami” Israel
* “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
* “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
* “Un Prophète” France
* “The White Ribbon” Germany

Makeup

* “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
* “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
* “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)

* “Avatar” James Horner
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
* “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
* “Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

* “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
* “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

* “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
* “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
* “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
* “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
* “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
* “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
* “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
* “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
* “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

* “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
* “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
* “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
* “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
* “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

* “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
* “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
* “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
* “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
* “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

* “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
* “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
* “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
* “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
* “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

* “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
* “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
* “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
* “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
* “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

* “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
* “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
* “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

* “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
* “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
* “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

* “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
* “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
* “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
* “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well it seems as if 2010 is starting with a bti of a hangover from the general vibe of 2009 - tragedy. Firsth the terrible earthquake in Haiti and then the premature death of another black music icon Teddy Pendergrass. I was trying to take the month of January off from blogging in an effort to revamp the site and get two new projects launched, but events have decided that isn't possible.

Check out the bio of Teddy Pendergrass below (courtesy of wikipedia) as well as some of the great music he leaves behind. Have a wonderful day and remember to live each day like your last because, well..it could be.

BIO
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass, Sr. (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade. In 1982, he was severely injured in an auto accident in Philadelphia, resulting in his being paralyzed from the waist down. After his injury, the affable entertainer founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a foundation which helps those with spinal cord injuries.

Teddy Pendergrass, a native of Kingstree, South Carolina, was born to Ida Geraldine Epps and Jesse Pendergrass. Later, Jesse left the family when Teddy was young and was not a part of his son's life. Tragically, the elder Pendergrass was murdered in 1962. Years later, Teddy moved to Philadelphia. He was a student at the old Thomas Edison High School for Boys in Philadelphia. Teddy sang with the Edison Mastersingers. However, he dropped out in the 11th grade to go into the music business. According to author Robert Ewell Greene, Pendergrass was ordained a minister as a youngster. Later he was to become a drummer for a band, and later lead singer. The church was his initiation for talent and eventual success.
Career

Pendergrass' career began when he was a drummer for The Cadillacs, which soon merged with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Melvin invited Pendergrass to become the lead singer after he jumped from the rear of a stage and started singing his heart out. Months later the group signed with Gamble & Huff on the then-CBS subsidiary Philadelphia International Records in 1972. The Blue Notes had hits such as "I Miss You," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody," the two million seller "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and many more. Following personality conflicts between Melvin and Pendergrass, Pendergrass launched a solo career and released hit singles like "The More I Get the More I Want," "Close the Door," "I Don't Love You Anymore," "Turn Off the Lights" and others.

His first solo album was self titled Teddy Pendergrass (1977), followed by Life is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Live Coast to Coast and Teddy (1979), 1980's TP and the final Philadelphia International Records album It's Time for Love (1981). He also sang a duet with Whitney Houston on "Hold Me", from her self-titled debut album.
Later career

On March 18, 1982, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia on Lincoln Drive, Pendergrass was involved in an automobile accident. The brakes failed on his 1981 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, causing the car to hit a guard rail, cross into the opposite traffic lane, and hit two trees. Pendergrass and his passenger, Tenika Watson, a transsexual nightclub performer with whom Pendergrass was casually acquainted, were trapped in the wreckage for 45 minutes. While Watson walked away from the accident with minor injuries, Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

In August 1982, PIR also released This One's for You, while Pendergrass was recovering from his accident. In 1983, the album Heaven Only Knows was released. This was his last album containing his pre-accident recordings. Ten years after the accident, he recorded a version of "One Shining Moment," the theme for March Madness Basketball on CBS.

After completing physical therapy, he returned to the studio to record the album Love Language, featuring the 1984 ballad "Hold Me", a duet with a then-unknown Whitney Houston. He also returned to the public for a performance on July 13, 1985, at the historic Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, then continued to record throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1996, he starred alongside Stephanie Mills in the touring production of the gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. In 1998, Pendergrass released his autobiography entitled, Truly Blessed.

Though generally inactive in his later years, Pendergrass' “Wake Up Everybody” has been covered by a diverse range of acts from Simply Red to Patti LaBelle and was chosen as a rallying cry during the 2004 Presidential campaign by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds to mobilize voters. In addition, Little Brother, Kanye West, Cam’Ron, Twista, Ghostface, 9th Wonder, DMX and DJ Green Lantern have utilized his works.

In 2006, Pendergrass announced his retirement from the music business. In 2007, he briefly returned to performing to participate in Teddy 25: A Celebration of Life, Hope & Possibilities, a 25th anniversary awards ceremony that marked Pendergrass' accident date, but also raised money for his charity, The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, and honored those who helped Pendergrass since his accident.
Death

In 2009, Pendergrass underwent surgery for colon cancer and had difficulty recovering from that disease from which he eventually died on January 13, 2010, at age 59, while hospitalized at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia.

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(Santa Monica, CA) – Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Kelis announced today that she will release her next album through will.i.am Music Group / Interscope Records. Kelis has just given everyone a taste of what’s to come with the David Guetta- produced “Acapella,” which is now available on her website www.iamkelis.com. The new album features production work by some of today’s most influential producers, including will.i.am, David Guetta (Black Eyed Peas), Free School, Boys Noize, Burnz and DJ Ammo.

Says Kelis, “I love that I am now a new part of the Interscope family. 2010 is around the corner and I can’t wait to put out new music and spend time with real music fans on tour again.” Adds will.i.am, “Kelis represents the kind of edge that pushes all of us not just musically but stylistically as well. She has always opened new doors for her audience and we’re ready to walk through this next one with her.” Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records concurs, adding, “Kelis is a true artist and we’re so excited to start this new chapter in her musical life.”

Kelis exploded onto the global musical landscape in 1999 with her debut album Kaleidoscope, which featured the ubiquitous MTV hit “Caught Out There.” Her career has seen her deliver five albums, garnering her a BRIT Award (for Best International Breakthrough Act in 2000) and two Grammy Award nominations. Over the last ten years, she has worked with music’s biggest talent, including The Neptunes, Andre 3000, Bjork, Enrique Iglesias and Raphael Saadiq. Perhaps best-known for her Top 5 smash “Milkshake,” and the million-selling ringtone “Bossy,” the fashion icon and New York native is also a certified chef and a recent graduate of Le Cordon Bleu.

So here's the deal, go to the link below...listen to the new joint and hit me with your feedback. The label wants me to report back with your comments so your opinions will be heard.

www.iamkelis.com

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(Collette Blanchard and Alicia Keys)

I spent a good chunk of the morning yesterday hanging with Collette Blanchard and Alicia Keys during the launch of Keys new jewelry line with designer Gisele Theriault called "The Barber's Daughters." The gallery is usually quite a "scene" during the opening of a new exhibit. This time the cause for a "scene" was the two day pop up store set up to preview the new line. The pieces range in price from $85 to $2,500. After the two day pop store front sale at Collette Blanchard Gallery the line goes on sale in 2010.

The energy in the gallery was intense and amazing as media, staff, and the multiple Grammy Award winning artist herself wandered the gallery looking at the collection AND the current exhibit of exciting and beautiful new artwork from artist SunTek Chung. Chung's current show is on display at the gallery through January 20, 2010.

Check out images from the event below.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

(A beautiful young contest winner gets her moment with her idol)

(contest winner with Collette Blanchard)

(designers Gisele Theriault and Alicia Keys)

(The gallery was full of energy, excitement and SunTek's great work)

(Here's a sneak peak at the line)

(Menswear designer David New)

(Who's the man Collette? Inquiring minds wanna know)

(Co-designer Gisele Theriault spoke and the photographers shot and listened)

Posted by rickyday at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SADE returns! The new CD SOLDIER OF LOVE, drops worldwide on February 8, 2010. It's hard to believe that SOLDIER OF LOVE is Sade's first release since Lovers Rock was released in 2000. I wish some of these artists would take breaks too.

February seems like light years from now. Here's a lil sumthin to hold you over, two versions of my favorite Sade song. What's your favorite?

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's no wonder A&M Records is spending a truck load of money promoting Janet Jackson's 'Number Ones,' her two-CD set of greatest hits music that was released on Nov. 17.

According to the New York Daily News, the youngest of the Jackson siblings has inked a new recording contract with A&M Records, which is the very label where she began her music career in 1982.

"A&M wants this CD to remind people how great Janet is," a source told the daily paper. "They're hoping it'll whet the public's appetite for Janet and pave the way for her new music."

Jackson had two of her biggest selling releases on A&M Records. Her 1986 CD 'Control' sold more than five million units in the US and her 1989 release 'Rhythm Nation 1814' moved a staggering 8.5 million copies.

Apparently A&M/Interscope executive Jimmy Iovine has tapped Rodney Jerkins (Beyonce/Michael Jackson) to oversee the album, which has a projected second quarter 2010 release date planned.

After her 'Rock Witchu Tour' last year, it was expected that Jackson would sign a recording contract with Live Nation, the mega-touring company that promoted her tour and has a record company division where Jay-Z, Madonna and U2 are now signed as artists.

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

Posted by rickyday at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New Michael Jackson Album and Song
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
UNRELEASED MICHAEL JACKSON SONG "THIS IS IT" TO BE UNVEILED OCTOBER 12TH

SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT TO RELEASE TWO DISC ALBUM WITH MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE SONY PICTURES FILM MICHAEL JACKSON"S THIS IS IT ON OCTOBER 26TH/27TH

On October 12th, the first new Michael Jackson song to emerge since the world mourned the loss of this musical icon will be released – a brand new single entitled "This Is It." Soon after, Sony Music Entertainment's Columbia/Epic Label Group will release the two-disc album This Is It featuring the music that inspired Sony Pictures' forthcoming film MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT. This two-disc album will be available internationally on October 26th and North America on October 27th to coincide with the worldwide release of the motion picture which arrives in theaters on October 28th and runs for a limited two-week engagement.

"This song only defines, once again, what the world already knows - that Michael is one of God's greatest gifts," comments John McClain, co-producer of the album.

Disc one will feature the original album masters of some of Michael's biggest hits arranged in the same sequence as they appear in the film. The disc ends with two versions of the never-released "This Is It." This song is featured in the film's closing sequence and includes backing vocals by Michael's brothers, the Jacksons.

Disc two offers previously unreleased versions of some of the artist's classic tracks. This disc also features a touching spoken word poem from Michael Jackson entitled "Planet Earth" that has never been heard before.

The two-disc This is It is a stand-alone companion to the motion picture and includes a 36-page, commemorative booklet featuring exclusive photos of Michael from his last rehearsal.

The motion picture MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London's O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from April through June, 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. Audiences will be given a chance to discover the man they never knew through this privileged and private look at Jackson. In raw and candid detail, MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show.

Kenny Ortega, who was both Michael Jackson's creative partner and the director of the stage show is also directing the film, which is being produced by Randy Phillips, Kenny Ortega and Paul Gongaware. Executive producers are John Branca and John McClain. The film will be distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing.

Tickets for the limited two-week engagement of the film go on sale beginning September 27. For more information about the motion picture, please visit the website www.thisisit-movie.com.

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WHITNEY WOWS WORLDWIDE!!!

WHITNEY HOUSTON’S I LOOK TO YOU DEBUTS AT NO. 1 ACROSS THE GLOBE

WHITNEY LAUNCHES OPRAH’S SEASON PREMIERE WITH POWERFUL INTERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE ON

SEPTEMBER 14 AND SEPTEMBER 15

(New York, NY – September 9, 2009) Proving that it was well worth the wait, Whitney Houston’s long-awaited album I Look To You debuts at No. 1 on several charts across the world, including the US Top Albums and R&B Album charts, according to Nielsen/Soundscan. With 304,801 units sold within the first week of release in the US, this marks Whitney’s biggest first week sales of her career and the best selling first week by a female artist this year! Houston’s No. 1 position extends across the globe and claims the top spots in Canada, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.

Led by the dual release of the album title track and “Million Dollar Bill” at radio, coupled with presale promotional campaigns on Amazon.com, QVC and iTunes, and a heavily promoted appearance on Good Morning America, the chart-topping result marks the official return of “The Voice.”

And the critics agree! The New York Times boasts that Whitney “re-emerges with full diva qualifications,” USA Today said: "Strong, confident and ready, she clearly hadn't forgotten how to sing imbuing the material with emotional power." The Washington Post cites I Look To You “hits all the right marks” and the Associated Press states “the pop queen still has a dazzling voice that can leave you spellbound.”

The spell will continue next week when Whitney Houston launches the 24th season of The Oprah Winfrey Show with a two-day event, inclusive of what Oprah calls “the best interview I've ever done,” and an emotional performance of “I Didn't Know My Own Strength" that had “grown men and women weeping in the aisles” according to Oprah’s recent Twitter post. "The Oprah Winfrey Show: Season Premiere: Oprah And Whitney Houston – The First Interview" airs Monday, September 14, 2009. "The Oprah Winfrey Show: Season Premiere Part II: Whitney Houston's Show-Stopping Surprise" airs Tuesday, September 15, 2009 (check local listings).

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This blog is about art and pop culture. I can think of no other political family that has been a bigger part of pop culture for the last 40 plus years than the Kennedy family. It is with sadness and respect that I share the news with you of the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy.

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics, died Wednesday at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 77.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," a family statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice."

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I've been away spending quality time with my paternal family during our annual family reunion which was a lot of fun. While I was away we lost another great. I decided NOT to blog or Tweet while I was away as this time was for family. However, I have returned and I wanted to make sure that readers of Urban Pop Life know that I am pained to hear of E. Lynn Harris' untimely death at the age of 54.

This has clearly been a bad summer for black icons, but death is an unfortunate and inescapable companion to life. Death gives life meaning and in this way even death is a ultimately a blessing. Not knowing how long we have should inspire each of us to never take anything for granted.

E. Lynn Harris was a highly successful writer who stood up and wrote stories that were true to his own experiences as a black gay man in a time period that was less open to discussing black male homosexuality so publicly. For his contributions to the conversation about HUMAN RIGHTS and UNIVERSAL love E. Lynn Harris will always hold a special place in my creative heart.

I met him at a book signing event at a friends home in Los Angeles over a decade ago and I found him to be a kind and seemingly gentle soul. My condolences go out to his family and friends and my respect will flow forever.

Please find below his obituary courtesy of The Associated Press.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - E. Lynn Harris, a pioneer of gay black fiction and a literary entrepreneur who rose from self-publishing to best-selling status, has died, his publicist said Friday. He was 54.

Publicist Laura Gilmore said Harris died Thursday night after being stricken at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, and a cause of death had not been determined. She said Harris, who lived in Atlanta, fell ill on a train to Los Angeles a few days ago and blacked out for a few minutes, but seemed fine after that.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said only that a man matching Harris' name and date of birth had died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which was confirmed by hospital spokeswoman Simi Singer. Gilmore said an autopsy would be performed Monday or Tuesday.

An improbable and inspirational success story, Harris worked for a decade as an IBM executive before taking up writing, selling the novel "Invisible Life" from his car as he visited salons and beauty parlors around Atlanta. He had unprecedented success for an openly gay black author and his strength as a romance writer led some to call him the "male Terry McMillan."

He went on to mainstream success with works such as the novel "Love of My Own" and the memoir "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted."

His writing fell into several genres, including gay and lesbian fiction, African American fiction and urban fiction. But he found success in showing readers a new side of African American life: the secret world of professional, bisexual black men living as heterosexuals.

"He was a pioneering voice within the black LGBT community but also resonated with mainstream communities, regardless of race and sexual orientation," said Herndon Davis, a gay advocate and a diversity media consultant in Los Angeles. "Harris painted with eloquent prose and revealing accuracy the lives of African American men and the many complicated struggles they face d reconciling their sexuality and spirituality while rising above societal taboos within the black community."

Harris published 11 novels, 10 of which were on The New York Times best-seller list. There are over 4 million copies of his books in print, according to his publisher, Doubleday.

"We at Doubleday are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of E. Lynn Harris' death at too young an age," said Doubleday spokeswoman Alison Rich, his longtime publicist. "His pioneering novels and powerful memoir about the black gay experience touched and inspired millions of lives, and he was a gifted storyteller whose books brought delight and encouragement to readers everywhere."

In an interview last year, Harris recalled the first time he realized he was poor, when as a young boy his family was invited to the housewarming of a well-to-do family in his hometown of Fayetteville, Ark. Fresh from an afternoon of playing outside, he tried desperately to tuck his bare, dusty f e et underneath the sofa after another guest remarked on his appearance.

"I didn't grow up in the kind of environment that my characters grew up in, or the kind of environment that I live in now," he said. "It was one of the things that I always aspired to."

His 1994 debut, "Invisible Life," was a coming-of-age story that dealt with the then-taboo topic.

"If you were African American and you were gay, you kept your mouth shut and you went on and did what everybody else did," he said. "You had girlfriends, you lived a life that your parents had dreamed for you."

Harris was not living as an openly gay man when "Invisible Life" was published, and could not acknowledge the parallels between himself and the book.

"People would often ask, 'Is this book about you?' I didn't want to talk about that," he said. "I wasn't comfortable talking about it. I would say that this is a work of fiction."

Harris said that the courage readers got from the book em p owered him to be honest about himself. He continued to tell stories dealing with similar issues, to tell black middle class readers about people they knew, but who were living secret lives.

For years, he was alone in exposing the "down low," but the phenomenon exploded into mainstream culture in 2004, a decade after "Invisible Life." That year, J.L. King's "On the Down Low: A Journey Into the Lives of 'Straight' Black Men Who Sleep With Men" hit bookstores and the author appeared on Oprah Winfrey's TV show.

His 10th novel, "Just Too Good to Be True," focused for the first time on a straight relationship, telling the story of a 21-year-old football star, his mother, and his cheerleader love interest. Harris taught writing classes at his alma mater, the University of Arkansas, and leaned on his students there to gather material for the book.

The last book Harris published, "Basketball Jones," focused on a hidden relationship between a successful business prof e ssional in New Orleans and an NBA star.

Janis F. Kearney met Harris when the two were among a handful of black journalism students at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The two became fast friends and their relationship deepened as they both evolved into authors. Kearney, who now lives in Little Rock, Ark., recalled Harris' huge heart.

"I've seen him help so many people," Kearney said. "He was very open, very giving, very caring, someone you felt so fortunate to have in your life. He's just one of those people I'll never stop missing."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press

* Invisible Life (1991 Self Published – 1994 Mass Marketed)
* Just As I Am (1995) *
* And This Too Shall Pass (1997)
* If This World Were Mine (1998) **
* Abide With Me (2000)
* Not A Day Goes By (2000)
* From the Book Got to Be Real - 4 Original Love Stories by Eric Jerome Dickey, Marcus Major, E. Lynn Harris and Colin Channer
* Any Way the Wind Blows (2002) *
* A Love Of My Own (2003) *
* What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted – A Memoir (2004)
* I Say a Little Prayer (2006)
* Just Too Good To Be True (2008)
* Basketball Jones" (2009)

* Winner of Blackboard's Novel of the Year Award
** Winner of James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence

http://www.elynnharris.com/

Posted by rickyday at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Everyone loves a winner. With that being said get ready to fall in love with Whitney Houston all over again.

The diva is set to return on September 1, 2009 with her first studio release in 6 years "I Look To You."

Last night at The Allen Room in Jazz at Lincoln Center music 77 year old legend Clive Davis stood on the stage and personally previewed nine new songs from Houston's upcoming release. During the evening he shared Whitney's thoughts on the material and her journey to this point and it was an emotional night to say the least.

The room chalked full of entertainment icons in their own right could barely hold back their own overwhelmingly heartfelt joy at seeing Whitney return in great voice and looking absolutely beautiful in black. Alicia Keys danced and raised her arms in the air while her contribution to the release "Million Dollar Baby" produced by Swizz Beatz pumped through the massive sound system. Other attendees on hand included Gayle King, Martha Stewart, Diane Sawyer, Stephen Hill and Debra Lee (BET), LA Reid, Andre Harell, Dionne Warwick, Cissy Houston and her beautiful daughter Bobbi Christina who looked overjoyed to see her mommy receiving so much love and adoration!

Celebrity is like a pact with the devil, it has its perks AND it's price and Whitney has lived both in equal measure. After the tragic loss of Michael Jackson just weeks ago, it is even more wonderful to see this beautiful sista not only survive the ups and downs of life, but to thrive again doing what she does best.

For the past few years I've had this constant conversation with dear friends who said Whitney's best work was behind her and that she'd never make another great record again. My reply was shut up and let's just pray that this wonderful talent who has blessed us with so much joy over the years can make her way through it all and emerge triumphant and healed. I'm so glad to be able to turn to the naysayers and happily say to each of them "I told you so." Never count a human being out. As long as we have a breath in our lungs or a beat in our hearts all things are possible. Whitney has emerged from it all a tested survivor who appears to be in love with life itself.

The title track "I Look To You" penned by R. Kelly captures the spirit of the CD. It's a spiritually uplifting pop ballad that proves Whitney's in great voice and shares the sentiment that sometimes you have to look to a power greater than self to lift you up when all seems lost.

Whitney we love and appreciate you and we're glad to have you here with us. Congratulations my Leo sista. Our prayers have been answered. The diva has returned.

Posted by rickyday at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Teddy sums up exactly how I've been feeling about Michael these past few days and years. To spend time with him was to experience a kind and gentle soul. Check it out.

courtesy CNN.com

Posted by rickyday at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

When I was young and not sure what I wanted to do with my life God found a very creative way to gently push me in the direction I needed to go. A friend was working on a music video with her cousin who was directing the video and she called me to come in and interview for a job as a stand in. I got the job and for the next nine days I was stand in for Michael Jackson on his now legendary Thriller video.

He was kind, he was fun and he was a great mentor who stimulated the creative urge in me and helped to set me on the path that I follow to this day. For a brief period of time he was a friend. I learned alot from him during those nine days including how to follow my dreams, be a good son, be a good person and most of all he told me to believe in myself. It took a few years for me to fully embrace the challenge of believing in myself, but the message always lived inside me. Much to my surprise when I ran into him several times in subsequent years he actually remembered me (not an easy thing to do when you meet thousands of new people per month) and took time to say hello and ask how I've been doing.

I will NEVER forget the blessing of being able to know a hero as an acquaintance. I will always treasure the conversations we shared and the knowledge he imparted. I will forever be grateful for the experience he provided and for the thrill of a lifetime.

Life is brief, life is a blessing and of course we never know how long our lives will last. The mission is to do your very best with the time you are given. Michael Joseph Jackson did that better than anyone before him the music business and touched lives in ways that transcend mere entertainment.

50 years of you, was like multiple lifetimes for most of us. Thank you for touching my life in a very personal way. Rest well and thank you for the memories my friend.

BIO from Wikipedia

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009[2]) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, five of his solo studio albums have become some of the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995).

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

Jackson donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his foundation, charity singles and support of 39 charities. Other aspects of his personal life, including his changing appearance and behavior, generated significant controversy, damaging his public image.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and the sales of over 750 million albums worldwide. Cited as one of the world's most famous men, Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, has made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades.

After being taken to the hospital in a coma, Jackson was reportedly pronounced dead on June 25, 2009.[

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Photographer Credit: Patrick Demarchelier 

THE MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUM OF THE YEAR ARRIVES SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 
 
(New York, NY – June 4, 2009) Whitney Houston’s new album will be released worldwide September 1, 2009 on Arista Records. This is Whitney’s 7th studio album. Since her 1985 self-titled debut, she has built an illustrious career that has generated over 170 million combined worldwide sales of albums, singles and videos.  Cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as music’s “most awarded female artist of all time,” with an unsurpassed tally of 411 awards, inclusive of 6 Grammy Awards, 2 Emmy Awards, 23 American Music Awards and 16 Billboard Music Awards…Houston remains a singular force in music today.  

Keep checking in here at UrbanPopLife.net for the first single dropping soon. Are you ready for new Whitney?
 

Posted by rickyday at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Number one is number one, no matter how you cut it up!!! Congrats Chrisette.

In a sloooooooooooooooooow release week, R&B singer Chrisette Michele tops the U.S. pop chart, selling only 83,000 copies of her “Epiphany,” according to Nielsen SoundScan.

That’s the lowest-ever debut on the U.S. pop charts since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991, according to Billboard’s Chart Alert. It’s also only the third newcomer to land atop the chart with less than 100,000 copies sold.

Def Jam's “Epiphany” joins the ranks of Johnny Cash’s “American V: A Hundred Highways,” which entered in 2006 with 88,000 copies sold, and the Notorious B.I.G.’s “#1’s,” which bowed atop the chart in 2005 with 99,000 copies sold. Michele’s “Epiphany” isn’t the lowest No. 1 total, however. The soundtrack to“Dreamgirls” topped the chart in January 2007 with only 60,000 copies sold.

Yet even in the down market, Michele’s chart-topper is still a large achievement for the neo-soul artist. Her debut, “I Am,” never sold more than 27,000 copies in one week, and went on to scan a total of 431,000 copies. Sales of “Epiphany” were no doubt helped by the low-low-low price of $2.99 on Amazon.com, and 14,000 sales were from the digital sector.

Get the whole story on the LA Times blog

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/05/chrisette-michelle-sets-personal-high-industry-low.html

For more info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

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ContemporAsian
March 19, 2008–Ongoing

Asian cinema is fast becoming a cinema without borders. Digital filmmaking and international coproductions are rapidly transforming an industry in which the transnational flow of talent and resources—even between the U.S. and Asia—has become the norm. In a new monthly exhibition, ContemporAsian, MoMA showcases films that get little exposure, but which engage the various styles, histories, and changes in Asian cinema. Presented in special weeklong engagements, the films in the series include both recent independent gems and little-seen classics. Not only are audiences given the rare chance to enjoy these undistributed films on the big screen—they also experience the diversity and richness of Asian cinema in all its many forms.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, and and William Phuan, independent curator, with additional support from Asian CineVision.

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LotusFlow3r, which enters The Billboard 200 at #2, is Prince's 14th top 10 album. Michael Jackson has 13--seven on his own and six with the Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons.

LotusFlow3r, a Target exclusive, sold 168,000 copies this week. Itcame within 4,000 units of debuting at #1. Keith Urban's Defying Gravity grabbed the top spot with first-week sales of 172,000. This was the closest margin between the #1 and #2 albums since August, when Slipknot's All Hope Is Gone led The Game's LAX by less than 2,000 units. (It was so close that Hits magazine, which has its own charts, called it the other way, putting Prince at #1.)

The grown folks can still sell a record or two. That's the power of being a great live performer. You can sell records and concert tickets long after you cease being the new hot thing.

Owww-ah.

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Michael Jackson arrived into the UK on March 3 with his three children - Prince Michael, 10, Paris, nine and five-year-old Prince Michael II. Word has it that Michael is in preparation for the 30-date comeback, which is expected to raise ￡150 million or more.

The official announcement today is expected which will share the basic details of the residency. Michael has already signed contracts with the 20,000 seat venue and is to reveal the exact dates of the residency at a press conference, as well as what may be a new album.

Tickets for the first shows are expected to go on sale soon. More shows are to follow if ticket sales demand it. Sources believe that this series of shows will be the only live performances Michael gives this year. In recent years there have been many reports of failing health for the 50 year old icon. I hope he is physically up to the task of once again moonwalking across the stage.

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Check out this great article about black film directors from the New York Times. Thanks JR for sending me the link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/movies/11seym.html

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Check out the red carpet fashion from this years Oscars courtesy of InStyle.com. Better enjoy it because if the actors go on strike there may not be a new movie or award show to honor film for quite sometime.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
Oscar-nominated pair Brad Pitt (in Tom Ford) and Angelina Jolie (in Elie Saab) looked elegant in matching black. The Best Actress nominee's half-updo highlighted her bold emerald Lorraine Schwartz drop earrings.

Taraji P. Henson
All eyes went to the collar of Fred Leighton jewels worn by Best Supporting Actress nominee Taraji P. Henson, who wore a tiered Roberto Cavalli gown. She accessorized with Jimmy Choo heels and a red Mary Norton bag.

Anne Hathaway
Best actress nominee Anne Hathaway made the most of her big night, arriving in a champagne-colored strapless Armani Prive gown that glittered with paillettes and Swarovski crystals. When the Rachel Getting Married star turned to give an over-the-shoulder pose, she revealed the onyx and black crystal dragon brooch affixed to the back of her gown. The actress also accessorized with Cartier diamonds worth more than one million dollars.

Kate Winslet
Best Actress nominee Kate Winslet looked stunning an asymmetrical Atelier Yves Saint Laurent gown and Chopard jewels. Despite her picture-perfect appearance, the Reader star admitted, "I'm extremely nervous."

Meryl Streep
Best Actress nominee Meryl Streep chose a smoky gray silk chiffon gown custom-made by Alberta Ferretti, Fred Leighton jewels and a Ferragamo clutch. The 15-time Academy Award nominee was escorted down the red carpet by her daughter Louisa. "I'm really happy she came with me," said Streep. "I need back up."

Freida Pinto and Dev Patel
"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Hi to my sister!" shouted Freida Pinto, as she and Slumdog Millionaire co-star Dev Patel did their first live interview on the Oscar red carpet. Patel was dapper in a Burberry tuxedo, and Pinto continued her winning awards season style streak in a John Galliano gown. She carried a Judith Leiber clutch and wore Martin Katz jewelry, including a ring set with a 150-year-old diamond from her native India.

Beyonce
Pre-performance, Beyonce posed on the red carpet in a gold and black brocade mermaid-style gown from House of Dereon Couture.

Alicia Keys
After celebrating with Giorgio Armani at the opening of the his flagship store in New York City last week, Oscar presenter Alicia Keys arrived wearing a plum chiffon gown from the designer's Armani Prive collection, Fred Leighton jewels and a Zufi Alexander clutch.

Check out the complete Oscar wrap up at http://www.instyle.com/

For my info on me visit my official website
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While renowned artist Shepard Fairey was being feted around Boston in recent weeks, posing for pictures with Mayor Thomas M. Menino and preparing for his big opening night at the ICA, neighborhood groups around the city were seething.

In the days leading up to Friday night's opening, Boston Detective Bill Kelley said, he was getting more and more complaints from residents of the Back Bay, the North End, and Mission Hill, furious that a man who admitted to spreading graffiti - even bragged about it - was being treated like a celebrity instead of a criminal.

On Friday night, Kelley ended a stakeout by pulling Fairey's taxicab to the side of a Boston street and arresting him on an outstanding warrant on an old graffiti charge from 2000 as the artist was on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art in South Boston.

The arrest and its timing, combined with Fairey's rise from counterculture icon to mainstream celebrity, have exposed anew some of Boston's oldest contradictions - between convention and revolution, between propriety and creativity, between the old order of places like the Back Bay and the new-moneyed donors to the ICA.

In its wake, it has left two unanswered questions: What is crime and what is art?

"At the end of the day . . . he was arrested like any other graffiti vandal," Kelley said in a telephone interview.

Fairey, who at 38 has become prominent for his "Hope" image of President Obama, spent most of yesterday shuttling between courthouses in Brighton and Boston, responding to the outstanding warrant from 2000 and charges that he had posted one of his trademark images on Massachusetts Turnpike Authority property at Massachusetts Avenue and Newbury Street on or about Jan. 24. An affidavit filed in court accuses Fairey of committing at least five additional acts of vandalism over the past several years. Kelley, who has been investigating graffiti-related crimes since 1997, said at least two of them occurred within the past two weeks.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of two years in a county correctional facility, fines, and loss of a driver's license for a year.

Since his black and white "Obey Giant" stencils - based on images of professional wrestler Andre the Giant - began appearing on buildings and overpasses around the country about two decades ago, Fairey's work has often brought him in conflict with the law. He told the Globe recently that he has been arrested 14 times. In recent months, however, the artist has achieved a more mainstream type of fame, with his "Hope" image now displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, and his work featured in a six-month exhibit at the ICA.

In a statement, the ICA called the charges an "unfortunate distraction from a meaningful encounter with Fairey's art and ideas and Boston's revolutionary spirit.

"Record numbers of people have responded enthusiastically to the beauty and power of Shepard Fairey's exhibition," the statement read. The museum did not respond to the Globe's request for specific attendance numbers for the show, which will run through August.

While some see Fairey's street work as an uplifting expression of progress and change, others see little to admire, equating it with any other type of graffiti. By imposing his work where it does not belong, they say, Fairey is no better than a delinquent spraying vulgar expressions on the side of a building.

"I'm sure a lot of people look at these charges and consider them kind of trivial, but this is not a trivial issue," said Anne Swanson, who cochairs the Graffiti NABBers for the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. "Here we spend $1 million a year cleaning up the mess that thousands of people leave behind and we're supposed to pretend this is a higher level art form. . . . The stuff we're removing doesn't appear to be art. It's just pure vandalism."

Fairey was released on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty to the charges. Following his arraignment, he stood outside Roxbury Municipal Court, flanked by four ICA representatives.

"I'm making art that not everybody likes," Fairey said.

He said the arrest was timed "in a way that was designed to create as much inconvenience for me and the museum as possible."

But Kelley said if that were his goal, he would have arrested Fairey inside the museum, before the more than 750 people who had gathered to see him. The point, he said, was to arrest an elusive scofflaw who had used different Social Security numbers and aliases to avoid capture.

"Ultimately who do I work for? I work for the community," Kelley said. "At the end of the day, we answer to the people. We ask these people to report the new graffiti crimes, document the graffiti crimes, then we're going to turn our back on them because a special interest group decides he's someone they're going to host?"

Kelley said he went after Fairey that night because it was a scheduled event they knew he was certain to attend. If Kelley had been aware of the Menino event on Feb. 4, he said, he would have arrested Fairey there.

In his affidavit, Kelley described Fairey as a relentless vandal who failed to show up to court after he was arrested in Brighton in 2000, accused of posting one of his trademark images, known as a tag, in Allston. That offense carries a $100 fine.

Kelley said he found out about the warrant soon after neighbors began e-mailing him with complaints about the exhibit about two weeks ago.

Spurred by their concerns, Kelley said he kept investigating and learned that Fairey was probably responsible for several tags around the city, including one on the Boston University bridge. Around the same time, Menino hosted Fairey at City Hall, where a banner advertising the exhibit was raised.

Menino declined to be interviewed yesterday, but his spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, said the mayor did not know Fairey had a warrant pending.

"I think [Menino] knew that [Fairey] was a bit edgy, but I don't think he ever thought he was doing anything illegal," Joyce said.

The Associated Press has accused Fairey of using a copyrighted photo to create the "Hope" image of Obama. Fairey said yesterday that he has filed a preemptive suit in federal court in New York.

"They are suppressing an artist's freedom of transformative expression," Fairey said.

Yesterday, Fairey shrugged when asked if he thought his latest arrest would mean good publicity for his show.

Swanson said she has no doubt that Fairey will use the arrest to "market" his art.

"To pretend that he's the victim is just absolute nonsense," she said. "We are the victims and we're tired of it."

Boston Globe

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TMZ can confirm that Chris Brown just entered an LAPD station, where he turned himself in to police.

Chris is being investigated by the LAPD for an alleged domestic violence felony battery that occurred early this morning near Hancock Park in L.A. Police officials said earlier today they may arrest Brown when they found him. Well, now they know where he is.

According to the female victim -- who cops refuse to identify -- she and Chris got into an argument which turned violent. Cops say when they arrived to the scene, Brown had split, but the woman had "visible injuries and identified Brown as her attacker."

Brown and his girlfriend Rihanna were together earlier last night, attending Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party -- and both canceled their scheduled performances at tonight's event.

Brown is currently being interviewed by detectives.
________________________________________

Chris Brown has officially been booked into the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Brown has been charged with one count felony criminal threats. His bail has been set at $50,000.

UPDATE 11:42 PM EST: TMZ has learned Chris paid his bail and was released.

I wont spread rumours as to what went down, but CBS News reports Rihanna has checked into a local hospital.

I hope this is a mix up and cleared up shortly.

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Photo by: ONeill / White / INF

Jennifer Hudson is in Florida to prepare for singing the National Anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl, her first performance since her family murder tragedy.

The singer-actress, 27, who also is nominated for four Grammys, was spotted at the airport in Tampa on Friday wearing sunglasses and carrying one of her Pomeranian puppies.

"She says she wants to get back into the flow of things," her Dreamgirls costar Jamie Foxx, who spoke to her recently, tells Entertainment Tonight.

Hudson also is slated to sing at the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala on February 6 and the Grammy Awards on February 8, both in Los Angeles.

"I've asked her fans and anybody that appreciates her talent and her as a person to pray for her and give her some energy," Foxx tells ET. "I know her first look will be the Super Bowl. I know she's going to do well and hopefully we will go out on tour together and heal the world with our music."

By Monica Rizzo People Magazine

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Michael Jackson will help develop his ground-breaking "Thriller" video into a musical theater production, producers said on Monday.

Jackson's 1982 "Thriller" album is the world's biggest selling album and the theater production will recreate the tale of the 14-minute horror film spoof based on the title song. In the video, a young couple are on a date when the boy -- played by Jackson in the video -- becomes a werewolf.

"This musical will be the exclusive Michael Jackson authorized version of 'Thriller' and Jackson will participate in every aspect of the creative process," said the Nederland Organization, which has acquired the rights to the musical.

"Thriller The Musical" will include songs from "Thriller" and Jackson's 1979 album "Off The Wall."

The "Thriller" video, featuring dancing zombies and horror film star Vincent Price, was first aired in 1983 and became a staple of MTV. It was directed by filmmaker John Landis, who said it cost $500,000 -- about 10 times the cost of the standard music video of the time.

Jackson's spokesman, Dr. Tohme Tohme, said in the Nederland Organization statement: "The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theater and musical excellence, so let the music begin."

Jackson, 50, is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time and began his musical career with his siblings in the Motown group the Jackson 5 before starting a solo career.

But the singer has been dogged since the 1990s by scandal and revelations about his eccentric lifestyle. He was tried and acquitted of child sex abuse charges in 2005.

Jackson also has been plagued with financial troubles in the past few years and narrowly averted a foreclosure sale of his Neverland Ranch in May. In November, he handed over the title of Neverland to a company made up of himself and the firm that holds the $24 million loan on the property.

For my info on me visit my official website
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By the way have you ever seen this??????

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Much to my own chagrin I am in some ways a fairly typical human being. Being an artist and a fairly liberal (I do have a conservative streak by the way) person the idea of being a fan of a corporation or product is against my nature. However, there is one corporation that causes me to go against my nature and to proudly pronounce how much in love I am with their products, that company is Apple and the products are of course MacIntosh computers and all the peripherals they produce from iPhones and iPods, to monitors and more!

In this series of posts I'm going to share with you a snap shot of the 25 year history of Mac with videos, photos, an article from CNN.com and more! I can't think of another company that has combined form with function in such a masterful way. I can't think of another company that has inserted itself into pop culture and the American psyche the way Apple has. Finally, what really resonates for me is that Apple makes products that look beautiful, perform well and generally make life easier, working more fun, tap into the human spirit of creativity with ease and for me literal serve as a conduit to express the divinity and creative spirit inside me.

My photos are edited on a Mac, this blog is created on a Mac, my digital art is created on a Mac, my photo sharing, emails to family and business paperwork are all done on a Mac. My Macs make my life easier and give me more time to get out and LIVE!

I know I sound like a commercial, but I honestly thank God for my Macs.

For my info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

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For my info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

For my info on me visit my official website
www.rickyday.net

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From CNN.com
By Jessica Ravitz
CNN

(CNN) -- Long before fish swam in Macquariums, hipsters got Apple logo tattoos and thousands camped out for days to get into computer store openings, there was a machine.
Danielle Brecker found this 1989 photo of friends on their Macs at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Danielle Brecker found this 1989 photo of friends on their Macs at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the original Macintosh, the first personal computer to draw masses, introduce the mouse and incorporate a graphical user interface, relying on images instead of text.

The Apple Inc. watershed product entered American consciousness amid fanfare, with a $1.5 million commercial, made by Ridley Scott, wowing audiences during Super Bowl XVIII. The piece's title, "1984," invoked author George Orwell's message and stood as a warning against conformity.

Two days after the ad ran, the Macintosh became available and life, as people knew it, changed. No longer were computers viewed as toys with which to play primitive games or as untouchable tools reserved for degreed engineers. We began to think different.

"The Macintosh demonstrated that it was possible and profitable to create a machine to be used by millions and millions of people," said Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, research director for the Institute for the Future, a Palo Alto, California, think tank, and chief force behind "Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley," an online historical exhibit. "The gold standard now for personal electronics is, 'Is it easy enough for my grandmother to use it?' People on the Macintosh project were the first people to talk about a product in that way."

Pang, 44, remembered being "mesmerized" by the computer when he first saw it up close in his college bookstore. He wasn't alone. For graphic designers like Zoë Korstvedt, now a Los Angeles creative director, the evolving Mac, with each added feature, was ripe with ah-ha moments.

To tinker with a piece, play with the text, "to visualize on your computer was just insane," she said. "My colleagues and I wonder how we did it [their jobs] before."

No wonder, then, that when Korstvedt, 44, married her first husband in 1989, she used half of their wedding money to buy her first home computer: a Mac SE/30, for which she forked over extra bucks for an upgrade to a whopping 8 megabytes of RAM. Nothing compared to the 12 gigs she now has. "I was styling," she said with a laugh.

Jeremy Mehrle, 30, of the St. Louis, Missouri, area is too young to know a world without Macs. This MacAddict began hoarding and tinkering with tossed-out computers, and then he discovered eBay. Today, the motion graphics designer's 1,400 square-foot basement is a museum to Apple computers, all-white and in gallery-style with about 80 fully-functioning machines on display.

"Some people think it's really cool. ... Others say 'It's Jeremy's thing, it's a little weird, whatever,'" he said. "I think if I had stacks everywhere, and you couldn't move in my house, people would be worried."

What's Mehrle's hobby, however, became a career for Dan Foust, 38, of Bloomington, Illinois. "Danapplemacman," as he's known on eBay, makes a living out of buying, and when necessary resuscitating, these computers before hawking them online to customers/collectors in places as far-flung as Italy and Australia.

So what would people pay for an original Macintosh?

"A complete boxed system?," he said. "I can't put a price on that."

The extremes to which people have gone in their love and loyalty for Apple (and specifically Macs) knows no bounds. Perhaps no one knows this better than Leander Kahney, news editor at Wired.com and author of Cult of Mac, as well as the more recently published Inside Steve's Brain. That would be Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' brain, of course.

From his phone in a San Francisco coffee shop, Kahney told tales of people allotting their limited vacation time to Macworld conferences, a man who has traveled to 40 Apple store openings and those who shaved Apple logos into their heads. As for the Apple tattoos, those, at first, really bothered him.

"I'm a bit of a leftie," he said. The idea of "corporate worship" didn't initially sit well with him -- although he's not afraid to admit his own obsession. "It's a very deep relationship people have with their computers. ... If the computer's not working, it's more important than the car breaking down."

Speaking of worship, Israeli filmmakers Ron and Kobi Shely created "MacHEADS: The Movie," a 50-minute documentary that'll be available next week on Amazon's video on demand service and, soon after, on iTunes. The film includes footage from The Church of Mac in Los Angeles, where a preacher and congregants gathered to glorify the computer at a service that ended with, "Praise Steve."

"Although we read a lot about the [Mac] phenomenon," Ron Shely said by phone from Tel Aviv of the two-year film project, "we didn't realize how big this social movement really is."

And that, beyond the products, is what has been so powerful about the Mac brand, said Peter Friess, president of The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.
iReport.com: Got your own Mac Museum? Show us!

Steve Jobs "really has changed the world," Friess said. "You hardly find people who changed cultures. He changed culture."

Decades before Jobs' health became a topic of discussion, Friess was lucky enough to meet the man. At the time, German-born Friess was a lowly watchmaker, repairing clocks in the basement of Munich's Deutsches Museum, the largest science and technology museum in the world.

The year was 1984, and Friess thought a Macintosh might come in handy, so he called Apple Germany to see if he might be able to get one. The answer, as he recalled it, "'You're very lucky. Steve Jobs is in town. We'll come over and give you one.'"

Ever since, he's been amazed and exceedingly intrigued by every new computer. "My wife goes crazy," Friess, 49, admitted. "Every Apple computer I buy, the first thing I do is take it apart, just to see what's inside."

For Gary Allen, 61, of Berkeley, California, his interest is less inside than it is outside the company's stores. He runs ifoAppleStore.com, the first three letters taken from his police dispatch days, meaning "in front of."

The site's genesis dates back to 2001 when Apple store No. 9 opened, in Palo Alto, and he and his son went early. Way early -- as in the night before. The crowds, and natural community, grew on Allen, who began seeing new-found friends at other openings. They were like groupies chasing a band.

So he started a Web site, to help fans keep in touch, and soon other Apple enthusiasts began writing from across the globe, sharing tips about new stores, as well as testimonies and photos. The site, he said, averages about 4 million visitors a month.

Allen, who guessed he's been to 22 store openings so far, once stood in the rain for days in Tokyo so he could snag the first spot in line. He's seen old friends at openings in Germany and Italy. Last summer, he and his now 21-year-old son experienced what he called "the perfect storm," hitting Boston, Beijing and Sydney. Next stop: Paris.
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He may not speak the same language as the thousands who surround him in these various cities, but that doesn't much matter when people speak the same language of computer love.

"Apple enthusiasts, it turns out," Allen said, "are the same wherever you go."

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It's been awhile since I was into a pop or hip hop star, but T.I. is cool as hell! Check out this hilarious interview on Chelsea Lately.

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LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Don Cornelius, the former host of the television show "Soul Train," was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, police said Saturday.

Don Cornelius was the host of "Soul Train" from 1970 to 1993.

Police were called to his Hollywood Hills home late Friday after someone reported a domestic dispute, Officer Sam Park said.

The 72-year-old producer was taken to jail, where he was booked for investigation of felony domestic violence, Park said. He was released on $50,000 bail and ordered to appear in court next month.

Park said he did not know whom Cornelius was suspected of assaulting.

A call to Cornelius' production office was not immediately returned.

Cornelius started "Soul Train" in 1970 to showcase black music and culture, introducing television audiences to such legendary artists as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Barry White. The series spawned a franchise that includes the Soul Train Music Awards, the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards and the Soul Train Christmas Starfest.

Cornelius stepped down as "Soul Train" host in 1993

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Authorities search for Hudson's nephew

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The mother and brother of singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson were found shot to death inside a home Friday.

Police have confirmed Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, is one of the deceased. The other victim has been identified as Jennifer Hudson's brother, Jason S. Hudson, 29.

The home where the bodies were discovered aruond 3 p.m. Friday is at 7019 S. Yale in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. Property records indicate the home belongs to Donerson.

A search is underway for a young boy who is missing from the home. A child, possibly Jennifer Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, has been missing since Friday morning, according to Area 2 Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson.

Patterson said neighbors reported hearing shot between 8 and 9 a.m.

Police are searching for an SUV that was seen in the area - a 1994 white Suburban, Illinois license plate number X584859.
King may be wearing a tan polo shirt with the number 5 on it and khaki pants.

Patterson said a family member found the body of Donerson in the living room Friday afternoon and left the hose to call police. When authorities arrived, they found Jason Hudson in a bedroom.

Patterson said there was no sign of forced entry.

Jennifer Hudson is a member of Progressive Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side. Despite her daughter's celebrity, Donerson chose to stay and live on the South Side, a decision that did not go unnoticed by the church community.

"That says a lot about the fact of the kind of family Jennifer comes from," said Rev. Willie Davis, Progressive Baptist Church. "They're a family of faith. They want to be attached to their roots. And that's just the sign of the nature of their relationship with God."

Church leaders say they have been told that Jennifer Hudson is flying home to Chicago from Tampa.

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In a year and a half period where several people who mean the world to me have passed away everytime the phone rings at an odd hour or I get an email from someone I rarely speak to I get nervous. That being said you can imagine how I felt when one of the few celebrities I actually care about was admitted to a hospital yesterday. Below I have included a report from people Magazine indicating she is ok. Whew!!!!! I simply don't wanna think about losing anyone or anything else I care about this year.

Here is the latest based on a story from people magazine.

Janet Jackson has been released from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, according to a hospital rep.

"Yesterday evening she was checked into the Royal Victoria Hospital and left a couple of hours later," Rebecca Burns, the spokeswoman for the McGill University Health Centre, which operates the hospital, told PEOPLE.

Janet cancelled her show in Montreal on Monday and was taken to the hospital after she "got suddenly ill" during her sound check, according to a statement from W&W Public Relations.

Further details of her condition were not immediately available, and reps for Janet did not return requests for additional comment.

Janet kicked off her Rock Witchu tour promoting her latest album, Discipline, in Vancouver on Sept. 10.

Jackson has complained of exhaustion, a source close to boyfriend Jermaine Dupri tells PEOPLE. "A 42-year-old body can't handle what a 22-year-old body can," says the source. "I can tell you that she's definitely tired. It was probably exhaustion. She is doing back-to-back, three-hour shows, and her body isn't the same as it used to be."

Janet postponed two concert dates this week on her nationwide Rock Witchu Tour due to an undisclosed illness, a rep for the singer said Tuesday.

Janet has delayed her Wednesday show in Boston and a Thursday performance in Philadelphia until further notice. She will resume her tour Saturday in Greensboro, N.C.

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