Terry Tate, the Office Linebacker, is back. And not a minute too soon…
Now if only we could get this guy in schools.
Is the New York Times Dropping an October Surprise on McCain Saturday?
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Huff Po has the scoop that the upcoming New York Times magazine will feature a story that contains some unsettling behind-the-scenes revelations.
The piece, written by Robert Draper and titled “The Making (and Remaking and Remaking) contains a few bombshells:
1. Sarah Palin’s vetting process was even thinner than it was originally reported. She moved to the top of the list at the last possible minute and was hired after less than an hour chat with John McCain
2. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg was very high on the VP list.
3. It was chief strategist Steve Schmidt’s idea for McCain to fly to Washington to deal with the economic crisis.
This oughta be good.
NYT Mag Lifts Curtain On Palin Choice, Angst With Schmidt, Worry In McCain Campaign
Amuse Bouche: Oh No, It’s the Crazy Lady from the McCain Rally
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008The woman who called Obama an Arab at a recent McCain rally has made it into the cultural lexicon. She’s got a stint (or, at least her likeness does) on the most recent Saturday Night Live. In addition to questioning his “Arab-ness”, the so-called crazy McCain lady in the skit asks if Obama consorts with terriers, is a Jew and a Muslin (yes, the fabric). Check it out.
Lil Wayne: King of the BET Hip Hop Awards Show
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
.
The BET Hip Hop Awards on Saturday could have been called Mr. Weezy’s Hip Hop Awards because the rapper Lil Wayne stole the evening. Nominated for 12 awards, Lil Wayne picked up Lyricist of the Year, MVP of the Year and People’s Champ, with the help of his hits, “A Milli,” “Lollipop,” “Got Money” and his recent single “Mrs. Officer.”
“These awards have been wonderful, especially when they call my name,” Wayne told MTV News. “That’s the best part about them. Twelve nominations—I think the only categories I’m not in are the female categories.”
Although the numerous awards may make his accomplishments seem easy, Lil Wayne beat out T-Pain (who he collaborated with on “Got Money”, DJ Khaled, T.I., Kanye West and Jay-Z for MVP.
And Weezy F. Baby, the rapper from the 17th Ward in New Orleans, announced he is expecting another son in “a couple of days” during his Lyricist of the Year award acceptance. Quite the family man, MTV reported that he dedicated the MVP award to his daughter.
According to all accounts, the show was full of surprises like T-Pain replacing comedian Katt Williams as host. And there were numerous performances by hip hop greats like T.I., Ludacris, Nas and Young Jeezy. The women also got into the mix. In an old school tribute, female rap icons, MC Lyte, Yo-Yo, the Lady of Rage and Salt-N-Pepa, whose 1993 classic “Whatta Man” song was dedicated to presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The show was pre-recorded last Saturday at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center but will air this Thursday, October 23 on BET. So, check out the show to find out the other big winners.
If you don’t know the song, “Lollipop,” what’s below is for you!
Turning Passion Into Action: How to Help Your Favorite Cause
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Most of feel that we’d like to do some good in the world, but we don’t know how. With so many urgent problems and seemingly so little that any of us can do about them, how does one get involved in a cause?
It helps to have an obsession, a particular problem that, above all the rest, keeps you from sleeping at night. For me, it was the fact that, because they don’t have access to mosquito bed nets, 3,000 children die of malaria every day in sub-Saharan Africa. I agonized about this until I read that one bed net costs $5. Here was a number that told me I could do something about this problem. Having an impact didn’t seem out of reach.
When Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour, who is also the UN Goodwill Ambassador for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, implored the audience at a concert at UCLA to “do something,” I wanted to heed him, but wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it. The answer came to me a few short hours later when I attended an after-party with crackling Senegalese sabar drumming played by some of N’Dour’s performers and local Senegalese sabar players who are well known to the African music and dance scene in Los Angeles. As a serious student of the sabar myself, many of the performers were friends of mine, and so I had the idea of putting it all together and hosting a big party to raise money to buy nets.
Photograph by Aliyah Levin
The next morning, I went online and found two small organizations that work to distribute bed nets in Africa; NetLife Africa, started by two medical students who travel around rural Senegal on bicycles delivering nets free of charge; and Netting Nations, a group based in Manhattan Beach that had recently completed a net distribution project in Ghana. I called up Netting Nations, and told Ben Kingston and Ike Stranathan my idea over coffee at Peet’s in Santa Monica. They were ready to sink their teeth into a new fundraising initiative and agreed to collaborate on Drums To Beat Malaria, a big African sabar party that would raise money for bed nets. It was a good partnership; I had access to the performers and a vision of what a sabar party looks like; they had an established non-profit with its tax-exempt status. We agreed to split the money evenly between NetLife Africa’s project in rural Senegal and Netting Nations’ project to deliver nets to an orphanage in Kenya.