Farrah Fawcett born and raised in Texas, came to Hollywood as a young woman and made her mark. At the height of her popularity women everywhere copied her hair style and men purchased her poster making record sales.

Although her fame came through acting in a formulaic series tee vee show Fawcett showed her authentic acting skills performing in dramas on the off-Broadway stage, in feature length films and teevee movies.

For her portrayals of a potential rape victim, a battered wife, the renown photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, and Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton  Fawcett received high critical acclaim.

There were several Golden Globe nominations. We loved her performance as Robert Duvall’s wife in his independent film “The Apostle”.

Beneath the veneer of a pop icon we discovered a great actress whose groundbreaking performances will long be remembered.

The family requests, in lieu of flowers, donations to support cancer research be made to The Farrah Fawcett Foundation, P.O. Box 6478, Beverly Hills, California 90212.

Michael Jackson fans, fans who love the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, and fans of Briney Spears look at these performances.

Michael Jackson died on Thursday, June 25, 2009. He was 50 years old. Jackson, who began his music career at the age of 9 with his brothers in a group known as the Jackson 5, is an influential international super-star performer whose contributions have come to revolutionize the entire entertainment industry.

Michael Jackson, the international super-star who began his career at age nine singing with his brothers, died yesterday at age 50. He will be remembered for his contributions to music, dance, charity, performance, world peace, celebrity and fashion for years to come.

Jackson’s compositions crossed music genre’s and generations. For the past forty years he has been a renown household name around the planet.

We extend our most sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Michael Jackson.

Our video tribute to Michael Jackson follows:
It began like this in Gary, Indiana.

We never can say good-bye to you Michael. Like that other entertainment genius, Sammy Davis, Jr, you, too, never had a childhood. You never were understood. All your millions of fans around the world love you and miss you. Rest in peace.

Letterman told a joke about Alaska’s governor and her family; he told a specific bad joke about one of her female children. He made a joke about the governor’s appearance, too.

We agree his jokes were not funny. A couple of them were in bad taste. Unlike radio personality Don Imus, David Letterman does not have a history of making coarse, off color remarks about young girls.
All you feminists, both male and female, who are outraged by the poor choice made by a late night teevee comedian to tell a joke that disparages  and exploits females, just hold on for one moment.

Other comedians have told similar jokes about the Alaskan first family. Maybe the governor’s hormones were slightly out of balance last week when some Republican agitator told her about the jokes.  Maybe some people in the GOP encouraged her to gin up the news to make an issue out of nothing. This is a move guaranteed to get her more face time in the press, the blogosphere and the electronic media.

The subject of the jokes has used her feminine attractiveness to obtain the political office she holds. If you remember she was the so-called “hot one” in position number two on the GOP’s 2008 presidential campaign ticket. We remember a comedian, not Letterman, said the governor and her family in the company of Senator John McCain reminded him of a family of grifters.

The governor of Alaska is,  a former beauty queen who knows very well how to use, shall we say exploit, her female comeliness to its best advantage.  she was also for a brief time in a small market a teevee personality.

David Letterman did not invent the culture we have today where women and girls are frequently demeaned. He is not the reason those types of jokes are taken as no big deal.

David Letterman is not responsible for the fact the female of our species is exploited for commercial gain, with or without her knowledge or permission in music, film, and every commercial form of enterprise one can name.

We like Letterman. No amount of bashing Dave, or calls for his ouster will change the fact we have a culture that heavily relies upon sex to persuade and influence decisions from which politico we elect to what car or shampoo or dog food we purchase. We say David Letterman is not the source of our society’s problems in respecting females.

To the governor of Alaska we say you can not have it both ways. One day you have your daughters promoting your candidacy; on another day you have the older of the three working as the public spokesman advocating for abstinence among young people. You heavily publicized your son’s military tour of duty during the presidential campaign last fall. You brought your youngest son to nearly every photo opportunity to show how you are a concerned mother with a child with special needs. Then the next time we hear from you, you are saying leave my children out of the limelight.

You can not have it both ways. If you wish your family to be private then do not parade them about in front of the media.

Now let’s compose ourselves and focus on why President Barack Obama is backing off of the corporations, the banks, the doctors and the health insurance companies. This Letterman-Alaska thing is just a distraction. Let’s get down to the real business at hand.

“Any time someone puts a lock on something you own, against your wishes, and doesn’t give you the key, it’s not being done to your benefit.”

Cory Doctorow, an activist for technology issues, is also a science fiction novelist of renown, and a blogger.

We recently discovered video of a presentation he made earlier this year, during the O’Reilly Tools for Change for Publishing Conference, on the subject of Digital Rights Management or DRM.

We liked what he had to say. In fact, much of what he said with regard to copyright, and the recording industry in particular ,are sentiments we have expressed in the past. We fully support sharing music files.

It’s sort of like buying an article of clothing. Once you’ve made the purchase it belongs to you to do as you wish with it. The same applies to books and recordings of music.

Publishing houses, recording companies and their distributors would have you believe different.

Not only do they want control of the creator of the art form, the author of the work, be it music composer, lyricist or novelist, by wresting ownership of the creation and paying a small amount of the proceeds from the sale of that creation to the originator; they also want to and have begun to have control over the consumer as to how much we pay, how much and how long we have access to the material once we have purchased it. It’s just another example of the world of economic predators. We know a woman who speaks of them as economic terrorists.

Watch the video. It runs about 20 minutes; we believe it is worth your time.

The White House Correspondents Association is in charge of the planning of the event. After all it is their dinner where reporters receive awards for journalism and students receive scholarships. They choose the hotel venue, the menu and the evening’s comedy host. It is a tradition since the 1940s for the correspondents and their guests-usually actors and other  entertainers along with politicians to be entertained by the witty observations of the evening’s featured hired speaker.

This year their choice was Emmy Award winning writer, actor, comedian and author Wanda Sykes. Mostly known for her stand-up comedy Sykes is a talented graduate of Hampton University who has been lauded for smart comedic delivery by her peers. In fact she’s rank among the Top 25 Funniest People in America by Entertainment Weekly.

Some media types are saying Wanda crossed an imaginary line of good taste when she made some barbed remarks about Rush “I hope the Obama administration fails” Limbaugh.

We think Wanda Sykes gave the White House Correspondents their money’s worth. If you are the President or the First Lady you may have been a bit uncomfortable in response to some comments she made about the loud mouth fat guy on the radio who resembles, and we believe,  is often confused with, the mascot for the Grand Old Part (GOP)–the  pachyderm.

Watch the video. You decide if Wanda was out of line. Then make your comments here. We’d love to know what you think.

Camp is struck by the fact that nearly every article about Boyle names her an “unlikely star”.

Our society has developed many undesireable qualities. Superficiality and insincerity rank as the top offensive behaviors along with being predatory and coldhearted.

Watch Camp’s video. See if you agree….

We’ve a new addition to the list of singers we love. We join the growing group of worldwide fans of Susan Boyle of Blackburn, Scotland, U.K. who entertained during her audition last weekend for the show Britain’s Got Talent. Her rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream” from the hit musical “Les Miserables” brought the audience to its feet in total approval and support of her ability.

Susan Boyle, the British spinster singing sensation, made a recording for a charity event ten years ago in 1999 at age 37.

Listen to this woman whose voice is strong, clear and clean as she sings the torch song standard “Cry Me A River”.

We expect to be hearing more from Susan Boyle and we wish her much success in her singing career.

“Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast”

wrote the popular late 17th Century English poet and playwright William Congreve.

A friend to, and a contemporary of Jonathan Swift,  William Congreve’s words have not been more true since they were first written and first spoken on stage in his tragic play The Mourning Bride in 1697.

With all the drama, trauma, wars, rumors of wars, natural weather disasters and the economic hell some predatory humans put other humans through; making it unnecessary to experience punishment in an afterlife when there is hell on earth as reality. The existence of an organization known as Playing For Change which offers welcome musical relief is a soothing balm for our world weary souls.

Watch this beautiful video from a group of artists and inspired people who have come together to connect the world through music. It illustrates the power of music and it soothing, joyful, communicative effect on human beings.

Playing For Change | Song Around The World “Stand By Me” from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

The tune is “Stand By Me” written by Ben E. King who originally recorded the tune in 1961. In this version it is performed by musicians from around the world.

Join the movement to provide resources to musicians and their communities around the world Playing For Change.

Article based on an email from Mystical Mel

than Michelle Obama’s sleeveless style or Mrs. Obama alleged breach of protocol by touching a British royal; a touch which was reciprocal, since the Queen initiated the touchy-feely expression

In fact we think the current flap is to distract from something far more reprehensible. No, it’s not racism; though some observers can not stomach the idea of a black touching a member of the royal family in a way that displays affection and caring.

We found this video explanation from The Daily Show’s resident expert on all things British, John Oliver, who tells us the real reason to never touch a British royal

John Hope Franklin recorded the American experience from the black perspective in order to give the world and its future generations the full story of this incredible nation.

“My specialty is the history of the south. That means I teach the history of blacks and whites.”~  in a 1990 interview, John Hope Franklin , historian

Franklin, himself, was born  in a flourishing, separate black area of Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father, Buck Franklin, was a lawyer and his mother, Molly Parker Franklin, was a teacher.

We can not think of anyone better equipped to become the historian of note on the subject of race in America than the young John Hope Franklin who experienced first hand the trauma of hateful acts when his father’s law office was burned down during the shameful riots in Tulsa during 1921. About the same time Franklin and his mother were thrown off a train when she refused to accept accommodation in an overcrowded Negroes only carriage. It was at this time as they walked back home he was challenged by his mother to “prove you’re as good as any of them.”

After graduation from a segregated high school, Franklin went on to attend the historically black Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduation he went on to study at Harvard University to receive both a masters and a doctorate in history.  By 1941 he was Dr. John Hope Franklin, and husband to his college sweetheart, whom he married in 1940. Aurelia Whittington, librarian became his wife and his editor. Upon her demise in 1999 they had shared a life together as husband and wife for nearly sixty years.

Franklin returned to Tennessee to teach at Fisk. While researching his first book at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, he was forbidden to to approach white female librarians, or to use the library’s cafeterias or washrooms. The book being researched at the time was “The Free Negro in North Carolina”. Published in 1943 it dispelled many ill-perceived notions about life in the segregated southern U.S.

Four years later the ground breaking “From Slavery To Freedom” was published. In 1947 Franklin’s book was received as innovative not just because it was written by a black scholar, but because as a chronicler of American history he refused to concede to the idea the African slaves in the United States and their descendants a history separate and distinct from the rest of Americans.

More than ten years later, in 1956, Franklin wrote of the sixty year period 1800 to 1861 in which he suggested the heinous institution of slavery increased and promoted, even stimulated a violent mindset among some whites.

It can be said John Hope Franklin through his books and articles helped to formulate many of our ideas about and policies toward race in America.

The John Hope Franklin Collection for African and African-American Documentation resides at the Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library and contains his personal and professional papers

He is the recipient of the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 1995, in a special ceremony, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

We think Jon’s idea, like Ifill’s new book about political breakthroughs in this country, is indeed an idea to promote an economic advance in our system.Basically Stewart proposes the feds give the bail out money to the consumers to pay off debt; money specifically designated to pay off mortgages and other consumer debt. We, consumers, give it to the banks; the lenders wipe the slate clean. The banking institutions get the funding they need to make loans for college tuition, mortgages, new cars and businesses. It’s a winning idea for everyone.

We think the Obama administration and the Congress should implement this idea, make it policy as soon as possible.

Watch the video. Jon makes his proposal around five minutes into the interview.

Mike Quick regularly performs his original music with his band, The Mike Quick Band, where he takes center stage at his club the Corner Stage, a blues club in Middletown, New York.For the past week Mike has been in the Central Florida area to jam his 21st Century version of the blues. He’s been hailed as a musical sensation in Daytona Beach as well as the Tampa area where he’s been invited to return to entertain audiences who really appreciate his gutbucket machine blues style.

If you’re in Daytona Beach, Florida on Wednesday evening, February 18, 2009 stop by the Bank and Blues Club on Main Street to hear this wonderful singer, composer guitarist at the spot’s weekly jam session.

For more details visit Mike Quick Band

And Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit, Michigan and his former aide and paramour Christine Beatty,   with their lies, deceit and adulterous affair did little to endear themselves to the community, but  their crimes are not as serious as those of former the Vice President Of The United States Dick “Dr. Evil” Cheney or any of those Republican men caught having illicit sex with underage males.

There is real news being made on Capital Hill. There is news that pertains to the economic future of our country.  Last fall decisions were made by the previous administration that will have a reverberating effect on our lives for years to come. The news today is that for every one hundred dollars spent on the banks last fall the government only received about sixty-six dollars of value; experts say this amounts to about $78 billion  of over-expenditure. We got ripped off by the banks…again!

So let’s start paying attention to our finances on a personal and a national level. Skip the news about Brangelina, Jennifer, Miley, Rod, Kwame, Elliot and the rest.

Last fall we voted for change in the way business is conducted in Washington, D.C.. Let’s pay attention and make sure our money is spent the way we want. Let’s make sure everyone is accountable for how our money is being spent….and yes we support the stimulous plan proposed by President Barack Obama.

We are happy and glad to see the entire year 2008 as part of the past. We look forward to improving on every level during this brand new year.

We hope for the very best we can offer our fellow inhabitants of this world to make all our lives more tolerable here on earth.

Happy New Year 2009 to everyone!

The  folks at the R+M Design agency say this review is the same one Santa Claus uses to determine what gifts to give good or bad boys and girls of all ages.

See what your Christmas will look like when you click on the NAUGHTY or the NICE buttons. Click on the Christmas tree or on the presents under the tree. Have a Merry 2.0 Christmas!

Over the years millions around the world have viewed the Komarnitsky’s lighting display. This year so far  they count viewers from 148 countries have seen the more than twenty thousand *lights used in the displays.

*Note for the ecologically minded: The lights are wind powered and carbon neutral.

According to Alek,  electronic lighting mastermind, former admitted prankster, husband to Wendy, and father of two great boys, Dirk and Kyle, who assist their father in the lighting design,; the good news is Celiac Disease is treatable when following a special diet, “…but the (gluten-free) diet is a pain in the butt.”

The great thing about this Colorado family is they help others by spreading holiday joy and raising money and awareness of this disorder while they help themselves by supporting research that will someday provide a cure so the children can eat and enjoy a not so stringent diet.

Take time to visit Alek’s site. Remember they are in Boulder, Colorado in  Mountain Standard Time. If you’re on the East Coast and it’s dark at 530pm it’s still daylight in Colorado ’cause it’s only 330pm there. Have some family fun playing with the lights then make a Tax Deductible donation.

The video has high quality production values, great seasonal music plus Barney gets an assist from his humans, who just happen to be the members of the immediate Bush family.

This video also features some very physically fit special guests.
This production reminds us of the tee vee holiday specials we grew up watching each year.

Take a look. Have some eggnog to dull the pain and to help kick-start your laughs as you watch. It must be comedy. They couldn’t possibly be serious.

There is a new game online called Sock and Awe from PopJam. The object is to see if you can hit President Dumbya with a shoe. As of this writing more than forty Million folks around the planet have successfully tossed and struck the agile Internet Bush. There’s even a listing of the Top 25 “Bush Shoe-ing” Countries with the United States ranked number one–*chants of USA! USA!*, France in the number two position and Venezuela in last position.

Try it…right now…you know you want to…go ahead chuck a few at the Commander-In-Chief.

If you plan to attend the Presidential inaugural the following day you may want to arrive a few days early to participate and enjoy all of the historical entertainment events associated with the swearing-in celebration.

Bob Brown,  is a graduate of the University of Florida; he is an avid supporter of Illinois Democrat Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and according to his news release he is “the first to officially create a dance for a presidential candidate” as well as for those who support candidate Obama.

When Brown heard that Senator Barack Obama is the Democrats choice he says,  “I wanted to contribute to his campaign….. Some people are good at raising money, some people hold signs, but me, I’m a rap artist.” In June 2008 he created a new dance called “The Obama Dance” .

As you watch the video you’ll see and hear reference to the term “N.I.C”…it does not mean the pejorative “N” so often used in the Rap or  Hip-hop genres, in this rhyme it stands for “NEXT In Charge”. Don’t get it twisted folks. This man is a dedicated, dignified supporter of Senator Obama using the best of contemporary musical styling.

We predict this new dance move–actual political choreography, will be sweeping the nation as we head toward election day on Tuesday, November 4th 2008. So check out the video and learn to do The Obama Dance..it’s fun, it’s historic, it’s innovative and exciting.