50 Cent and Vivica Fox: *Bump Bump Bump* - 1:19 p.m.
Page Six reports that 50 Cent and Vivica Fox were seen at Tao a popular Asian restaurant in NYC. Located on E. 58th street, you can read a review of the place or ask for an official description from the proprietor: "Tao, the largest and most popular restaurant in New York City, was created to offer guests a sensual trip through the cuisines of Asia. From the moment one enters, they are transported to another world designed to relax and indulge all the senses."

"Open since fall 2000, this action packed venue hasn't lost one bit of its buzz. Tao is frequented by celebrities on a regular basis from Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Ricky Martin, Robert Deniro, and Sir Anthony Hopkins to members of the NY Yankees and Giants."

Add Vivica Fox and 50 Cent to the list of celebrities. On Monday night they were seen "canoodling over sushi and sea bass." Seven bodyguards sat at a nearby table as Vivica swimming in the vibe, nibbled on 50's neck. The eyewitness says 50 was loving every minute of it, adding, "she was caressing his arm, kissing his neck. They were definitely together."

I found this of interest because it was only two months ago that 50 tossed a compliment her way at the BET Awards when he thanked her for wearing "that dress." When the camera switched to Vivica to show her reaction, she was blushing like a schoolgirl; 50 had a grin on his face and went backstage.

Vivica Fox hasn't been in a big movie since Independence Day, later this year she'll appear in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill as Vernita Green aka Cobra. The movie involves female sword slingers and lots of blood. Tarantino is hoping the movie will bring him back to Reservoir Dog/Pulp Fiction status. Vivica? She could care less, it's a fat check. A long as 50 keeps returning her calls and giving her the magic stick, she's good.

When All Else Fails, Blame the Hispanic Guy
What is the least wanted job in the United States.. your job? Nah, how about military security in Iraq? Nobody except crazy wannabe Rambos are rushing to get the call to serve in that Mad House.

This story comes out of Andover, Minnesota.. A 20-year-old US Marine, Adam Welter, received orders to begin an overseas assignment. These assignments typically last three years. Once they're at the base they can be sent anywhere in the world. Adam must have believed that he was going to Saddam's homeland, because he.. I'll explain.

Adam was scheduled to fly to a military base in Hawaii at 8:00 a.m. Monday morning; from Hawaii he would be deployed overseas. At 12:40 a.m., eight hours before his scheduled flight, Adam Welter called Minnesota police and told them that while driving on Prairie Road Northwest, he pulled over to the shoulder to help the driver of a black pickup truck. He said he examined the vehicle, went to get jumper cables and, when he returned, a Hispanic male got out of the truck and shot him. Adam said he managed to drive home and call police.

This is a twist, I guess there aren't many black folks in the area.. so he chooses the next minority on the list.

The story gets better. Police were trying to piece together his story. They say the motive and physical evidence weren't adding up. Nothing was stolen, he had no witnesses and the gunshot wound appeared to have come from close range.

Under pressure, Adam Welter eventually admitted to have shot himself. He was treated and released from Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on Tuesday. Minnesota authorities are deciding if they should press charges and to his dismay Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez - a hispanic guy : ) - says he might still be deployed, perhaps in good ol Iraq.

Benzino Promises To Out 50 Cent - 3:35 p.m.
I was talking with a friend of mine about who is hot in hip-hop at the moment.. you know, someone besides 50 Cent. We're sitting there going umm.. uhh.. there is .. No .. How about?.. Nah.. The sad thing is, besides 50, no one else in hip-hop or R&B has made an impact this year. The guy is on every radio station playlist in the country.

This is something that irks a lot of people, including Benzino. Late last year he expressed his contempt for Eminem and what he calls the machine of hip-hop. According to him, the 50 explosion is an example of the machine at work. Speaking about a record he made about Eminem, Benzino spoke to MTV in December 2002 .."I just call it a debate with my opinion on issues. Hip-hop came from the streets. It's gone mainstream, it's corporate, but it is part of culture. It breathes life into a lot of people. I just felt that on my first record where I went at Eminem, it wasn't so much about Em, it was about the machine. The way media outlets are taking what Eminem is doing and using it as a double standard for what other artists are doing."

He added. "Eminem gets to talk about his issues and his pain ... killing his mother, beating his girl, drugs. We have to rock the party in order to get spins and burn on the radio. We have to entertain more than expose our true issues. When black and Latino people try to give our pain on there we couldn't get burn. The machine doesn't want our pain to be out there."

Shortly after those remarks The Source, which Benzino is co-owner of, went on an anti-Eminem campaign. Remember the issue that seemed to be devoted to nothing but Eminem bashing and Benzino articles? Well now, The Source plans to devote some attention to 50 Cent in next month's issue.

Benzino was on The Wendy Williams Show yesterday, he said "loose change" (his words) was gonna be exposed for the fraud that he is. He didn't get into what exactly makes him a fraud, but said he had journalists go to 50's hood to get stories on who the guy really is. You've heard the stories about him being a snitch, I suppose you'll hear more of that. I don't want to lean on this before reading the article, just letting you know to look out for it.

Wendy asked if she could get a copy of the story before it's printed.. Benzino said he would get it to her this afternoon. If so.. I'll have tap in and see how she dissects it.

Beanie Looking For a Way Out
While Chris and Neef are rapping, "Can't stop, won't stop .. Roc-A-Fella Records, cause we get down, cause we get down." Beanie is in his cell wondering what the f- happened to him.

The obvious answer would be, if you shoot someone, your gonna have a problem with the law. Less obvious is how you get out of it once your accused. The first step is getting out of jail until your trial comes up.

Yesterday, Beanie's attorneys made a proposal to U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick hoping they could get Beanie a breath of fresh air... at least for awhile; Beanie has been locked up for 49 days. The proposal to the judge would have Beanie entering into a drug and anger counseling program in a private facility while the case proceeds.

In addition to the proposal Beanie has offered to post a $100,000.00 bond, and his mother and sisters have offered to put up the three homes they own to insure that he shows up for the trial.

Prosecutors in the case have argued against Beanie's release because they claim he's a flight risk. They say he might just "walk away" if he's not kept in a secure facility, Assistant U.S. Attorney Curtis R. Douglas told the judge. In response Damon Dash said it, "makes no sense," since Beanie would lose everything he's worked for in the rap game if he fled.

Then there's the issue of where would he hide.. just dumb, if you ask me.

Not only does Beanie want out of jail, he wants to finish the CD he was working on before everything went wrong. If he's smart he'll lock the door of the studio and burn out three or four CDs 2 Pac style. If your gonna go gangsta, you might as well make way for all possibilities.. like a few years behind bars.

When Al Franken and Bill O'Reilly Go At It - 2:20
Breaking News - A Car Bomb Kills 45 in Bombay; last week the United Nations building was bombed in Iraq; yesterday, 4 British soldiers were killed in Iraq, in a separate incident, 3 Iraqi guards were killed in an attempt to murder an influential Shiite cleric. This has been the news type of news coming from the Middle East for the past few weeks. The only thing that can be said is.. nothing.

Any comment would be in the form of "I'd told you so" and that's never pleasant. No matter what problems there are in Iraq, we are stuck with them. You can't just pack up and leave the country, it would be taken over by Saddam's sympathizers overnight... Bin Laden might even rent an apartment in downtown Baghdad. Killing Uday and Qusay didn't stop the madness and neither will the capture of Saddam. Bush and Co. have started something that will continue until your kids kids have kids.

I was thinking if some kind of terrorist attack occurred in the US before next year's election, Bush could be elected for a second term. 80% of the 48% of people who say they're unhappy with Bush, in recent polls, would piss their pants and embrace the guy who would no doubt be declaring a holy war on "the evil doers." The fact that the Bush administration seem to have no definitive plans for Iraq besides waiting for terrorists to turn themselves in or just buy a Coke and smile, makes me feel otherwise. That's unless you decide to vote for Bush... I'm for electing anyone except him. Hopefully.. General Wesley Clark joins the race to become the democratic nominee.

Umm.. I think I just commented on the Iraq situation. Oh Well.. on Saturday morning I stumbled on a link to a CSPAN2 event featuring author Molly Ivins, Bill O'Reilly, and Al Franken - they pushed their new books, commented on George Dubya's performance as President and the situation in Iraq.

Al Franken is a political satirist who will be releasing a book called "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." Fox news sued him for infringing their copyright for the phrase "fair and balanced." U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ruled against FOX on Friday saying that it's an often used phrase and the copyright itself is "weak." Chin said, "It is ironic that a media company, which should be seeking to protect the First Amendment, is seeking to undermine it by claiming a monopoly on the phrase, 'Fair and Balanced.'"

The debate was interesting because each of the participants repped the range of opinions on the subject: O'Reilly is to the right, Molly Ivins is in the middle, and Al Franken is on the left. They might fight those labels, but that's how I see them. This is also the event where Bill O'Reilly told Al Franken to shut up.. and basically sit down, saying that he had his time. Hah! And he was quiet for a long time after that. If the link is still working when you read this.. it's right here. If you want to get right to O'Reilly shouting down Al Franken it happens at 48:20.

Kelly Talks Freddy w/ Craig Kilborn - 1:49 p.m.
Kelly Rowland was on The Craig Kilborn Show last night to keep beating the drums for Freddy vs. Jason. Her acting debut contributed to the success of the $37 million opening weekend. Miramax is happy with that pile of loot, but Kelly is smiling in her sleep.

As Beyonce struts down the walk of fame, in her own handicapped, wounded stray dog, one-leg-hop-along way, Kelly is maintaining stride. While Destiny's Child is on hiatus she's doing projects that may be a notch below Beyonce's as far as quality, but are good enough that people remember who she is and stays on the radar. Has anyone seen Michelle?

Don't think Kelly hasn't heard the things you say about her. Craig Kilborn asked Kelly how she thought she was credited in the first movie she appeared in Beverly Hood - her real debut, I guess straight to video doesn't count - she laughed and said, "What, that I'm the insignifigant member of Destiny's Child?" Other than mentioning that her dog Mocha has bad breath, she didn't break any earth shattering news. Just a random brew of chit chat and her experiences doing the movie. Tap in if your interested. - Listen to it - Download it (zip mp3 3.1 mb)

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Irv Gotti Arrested For Holding an E Pill
In one of the many Murder Inc diss records bouncing around, Ja Rule was said to be acting silly on E. You'd think these songs were filled with silly baseless jabs. Then again.. maybe we're not in the VIP room to determine that

At an R-Kelly concert in Pasadena, California, Irv Gotti was stopped at a security checkpoint backstage at the Network Associates Coliseum. Whoever was doing the searching, they need to be working for the Homeland Security Department. They patted Irv down and felt something in his pocket - a single Ecstacy pill. How do you find a single pill? Inspector Kluso got all hype and asked Irv Gotti, "Uh huh. What's this? You trying to get drippy in here.. you getting drippy? Come here." Security continued the search, went in his pocket and pulled out some blue Viagra pills. Yup, it was drip time for sure.

The plan: get sexed up on E and make sure your able to hold it up for the night with a lil Viagra. Everything's straight.. literally. The E claim was made about Ja Rule; by the power of suggestive association let's assume that he and Irv are no stranger to the stuff. Irv was scheduled to appear before a judge yesterday, he won't face any jail time. At most he'll have to participate in the county's drug diversion program, where they watch old video of Nancy Reagan saying over and over "Just say No.. Just Say No.. Just Say"

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On My Block.. - 2:23 p.m.
What does a blackout look like? This picture was taken in the middle of the street at 11:30 p.m. You can see absolutely nothing. On your left there is a gang of people sitting in beach chairs. You can only see the wheel of the car. Taking into consideration the camera, it's a little bit darker then it actually was, but not much.

If you didn't have a flashlight, you literally could knock into someone walking down the street. People outside of the affected areas were all looking at the situation from the outside in. People walking over bridges, camping out in parks, and sleeping on the steps of the Post Office. It was 9-11 without the dust and jet pieces. I can only imagine how it was playing out on CNN, MSNBC and other cable news stations.

It's been a few days and I know your blacked out on the blackout news, but your gonna hear my story regardless :)

As I said yesterday, I was getting Keshawnta's column together when the lights in the house browned out, once, twice, and then *click* The lights and the computer went off. I stuck my head out window, it was 4 in the afternoon, the only indication that there was no power was that everyone on the block was asking.. "Uh, did your lights go out?"

I was in a dollar store earlier in the day, buying some scotch tape, and saw this 99 cent flashlight that was $12 in another store. I figured I use it for the car if I ever got stranded on the highway, I had no idea I would actually use it that night and be stranded at my house.

As soon as the power cut off, I went out to get some batteries for the flashlight. That's when I noticed I had $20 in the wallet and hmmm.. no power means no ATM. Then I'm thinking about the people stranded at the subway.. hey , I could do the dollar van/taxi thing. Then I look at the gas and the needle is touching the top of the letter E; little money and gas stations are run by electricity, no way to fill up. Who knew how the long the power was gonna be out.. and now I'm hearing it's the Eastern Seaboard. Nothing to do but head home before I'm kicking holes in the floorboard to move the car Flintstone style.

On the block some people were thinking that it was terrorist thing, some were talking about looting. I'm thinking about my mom's and how she's doing. Pull out the cell and it says "digital service unavailable." The network was overloaded, at least that was the explanation they gave. The house phone wasn't working either. I didn't get through until the next morning.

This ain't no sad story though.. as it got darker and darker. The people on the block weren't in the looting mentality. With three car stereos tuned into the same station, the sound of the block was first a news station and then later when switched to HOT97 it was one huge party. A few crazy people across the street grabbed two barbecue grills, filled them with charcoal and squirted lighter fluid all over and struck a match.. it roared into a giant bonfire.. right at the backend of a car. Mufuckas trying to blow the block up! They was whooping and hollering.. and the Trinidadians popped in a calypso CD and the shit turned into dance fever.

By 2 - 3 a.m., everyone was finally tired out and myself.. I was ready for the lights to come back on. The mayor was on a local radio station saying it would be 5-6 hours, no problem. That was at 4 p.m. When I woke up in the morning it was 7:30 a.m. and the power still wasn't on. I'm thinking this ain't a joke.

An hour later, my uncle called saying that he had power in his neighborhood. It's only 10 blocks away so I drove over there. It was like civilization: traffic lights working, stores open, people going about their biz and lots of smiles. I grabbed some gas and headed back to my house.. in the dead zone. A few hours later. The fan started spinning, tv comes on, lamps, computer, another fan, clock radio, vcr, cable box. Damn. The power is back, but it I'm feeling all wrong and dirty like how much shit I got plugged in in here?

I'm prepared for this to happen again. It wasn't terrorist related but they had to look at the way three-four states get taken out by one malfunction and all the problems it caused. Some reporters were saying, no no terrorists like to physically harm people. They don't care about the infrastructure. *Smack* It's a perfect target, idiot. You turn out the lights and then while everyone's distracted you hit a bridge, AK-47 people in the street, toss some grenades into the park. That's a terrible thought.

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Dirt McGirt Gets Cleaned Up, but No Luv from the Wu
This month's King Magazine is a real collector's item. Mya on the cover in a black and blue bikini, looking oh so nice. I've said all I can say about her: the wedding plans and all that, you know the deal. On the opposite side of the room, a few pages after the Mya story, is an article on Ol Dirty Bastard, now known as Dirt McGirt.

They did the story in a spa, and Dirt, fresh out of jail, was concerned that he wouldn't be keeping it real if he was seen in a magazine getting a manicure and a hot massage. "A nigga don't come out of jail and get his toes done, " said McGirt. "I'm trying to convince myself that it ain't sweet right now [being at this spa]. I'm fighting with the shit. How the kids gonna feel about that?"

Even after the drug use, the wild off-the-hook behavior patterns, Ol Dirty is still concerned about the kids. Then the model who would be giving him the massage enters the room and suddenly the kids are forgotten.. With wide eyes he said, "Tell them I'll think about the pedicure." Later he gave the model some of the patented pimp language he reserves only for the best.. "Sallie spreads oil up and down his chunky back. Dirty then turns his head to the statuesque woman and testifies, 'Man, you are gorgeous.'"

That's about it.. He must have been lulled to sleep by the massage, because there are hardly any quotes from him in the story. Instead the writer asks the question, is a sober Ol Dirty Bastard gonna be as appealing as the guy who sipped cheap liquor and stayed high? No one wants the man to kill himself with the devil's nectar, but it is a valid question. Does a bottle water sipping, wooosaaaa, speaking Ol Dirty feel the same as the wild child who gave Mariah Carey a good look? And let's not even get into the classic material.."Brooklyn Zoo," "Shame on a Nigga"

Ol Dirty was truly a free spirit and someone who you really couldn't categorize. People may have called him crazy, only because they couldn't think of anything else. It's fine to be perceived as crazy.. but if people really think you have a chip missing, that's not a good thing.

Dame Dash believed in him and wasted no time in signing Dirty to The Roc. One of his Wu-Tang brethren, Inspectah Deck, thinks that Dirty should have fell back on the deal. Just take it easy, readjust to life on the street and lay low with his family before jumping right back in the biz. That could be seen as jealousy, but it's his concern that Dirty is being treated like the character in some freaky reality show.. "Dirty's out of jail and they just put him right into the studio. They got a camera strapped to him like, On Parole With Ol Dirty. That's just stupidness. I can't say no one is looking out for him.. but ain't nobody saying, 'Naw Dirt, don't do that, man. That's bad for your image.'"

Method Man is speaking out too.. and with less compassion. In an interview with allhiphop.com he said, "They exploiting that ni**a. I thought he was a General. I thought he was pimping the game. He a soldier man [not a general]. When he went to Roc-A-Fella I was happy for this ni**a I was like, “Yeah go get that money, man.” Go in there a general man. Start your Dirty Records and all that. This nigga rocking the [Roc] flag and all that. He got the Roc jewels around his neck. He got Roc-A-Wear. He want Roc ni**as on his album. He ain’t mentioning [Wu Tang on] none of that s**t.

He also told hiphopsite.com that he went to see Dirty when he was institutionlazed.. "I went to see Dirty's funky ass. He's a f**king idiot. Dirty never f**king liked me that's why. He never liked me. I mean he liked me but it was a f**king weak emotion. It was jealousy."

I'm a little surprised that Meth is spittin so much raw at Ol D. They had some tension, but you know he's twisted in the head. Let that go. Is there any wonder why Wu-Tang will never be what they used to be?

They all have little things to say about each other. And it came when a few of them got the Cream and fame, while the others starved on royalties from Wu Wear and U-God albums.

His manager, Jared Weisfeld says he's looking out for Dirty and admits, "basically the things we've had to overcome is trying to keep him away from drugs. And that's actually something that he's done on his own. I'm just trying to keep him focused."

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Flash Mobs Hit Manhattan.. Next stop, the Moon - 3:32 p.m.
People do some crazy things, but this is really bizarre. It seems as though some people have decided to get together in the streets.. and do ridiculous things. Like gathering in the busiest section of a department store, where you and thousands of others all scream out in unison.. "No, I'm just looking."

Then you dash out of the store, leaving those not "in the loop" saying, "Huh?" And that's the point, to get a rise out of people.. it's a fun thing.

The pioneer of the concept comes from a book and site called Smart Mobs. The author had a technical, business/social revolution concept in mind. How it go to this? Even the people involved can't seem to agree, but I'm willing to bet that the seeds were sprinkled by meetup.com. Not created by them, but someone else inspired by the idea of unknown people with similar interests gathering in a public space to hang out, and it mutated into this.

The thing is.. like with meetup.. the intial interest is getting people to the designated location. Then what happens once you get there? Everyone's camped up in Starbucks and someone says, "Okayyyy, we're here, now what the hell are we gonna talk about? What does everyone want to do?" Some crazy guy says, "lets get naked and run down the street!" Everyone looks at him like he's a nutbar, but they do agree to dance and sing like mad men and women. Then here comes the suggestion.. "Let's just do dumb stuff all the time!" Everyone's smiling and slapping high fives. "That's cool! Yeah, that's kewl! .. See you next week"

Last Thursday, the Flash Mob hit Toy-R-Us here in Times Square. The plan was laid out days before and documented at least partially in Fred's Journal

*** MOB #6 ***
Duration: 6 minutes (Gather at 7:18; disperse at 7:24)
The Site: Toys R Us (Broadway at 44th St)
By 7:15, situate yourself on the second floor of Toys R Us, away from the Jurassic Park section.
At 7:18, approach the giant animatronic dinosaur. Fill in all around it. It is like a terrible god to you. Stare at it, transfixed.
At 7:20, drop to your knees, still staring at the dinosaur. Whenever it roars, moan and cower behind outstretched hands.
At 7:24, disperse. No one should remain in Toys R Us after 7:27
Keep this slip hidden.

And they did just that.. it is written.

O Mighty Lizard.... 7 August, 2003 | 7:53 pm
...what is thy command?! We are gathered here [Toys R Us, Times Sqaure], some one thousand of thy humble servants ready to do thy will.

Roaarrrrr

No, O Great One! Do not be displeased with us! We have read Your word; we have heard Your command [Whenever it roars, moan and cower behind outstretched hands]. We lift up our hands and offer You our praise and supplications.

Roaarrrrr

Aarrrgghhh!!!

The Flash Mob thing is spreading like the flu, people hit London on the same day as the NY event. Some photos from that were posted at nyclondon.com and some NY fliks at satan's laundromat - yes, that's an evil sounding name.

Someone on that site suggested that more African-American's get involved, saying it would scare the crap out of people. Yeah, large numbers of black people acting a fool. It would not "only scare the crap out of people" it would become an instant roundup spot for the cops. On the news it would go from "Flash Mob" to "Riot in the Streets." Then reporters would look for any way to tie it to hip-hop. It would no longer be a cute thing, they'd lock everyone up for disorderly conduct in a .. flash.

If you want to get involved or just keep a tab on the craze, the Bat Cave lives at flashmob.com

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The Baghdad Blogger Back Online
Operation Iraqi Freedom aka The Takeover, was unlike any other war. Technology has advanced to the point where we could see live video of the fighting. It was sanitized, the cameras were far from the actual shooting and bombing, but the fact that you could take a virtual at-that-moment ride in a tank operated by someone's brother or sister.. was incredible.

The US media was all over the place, but sitting in his room, monitor flickering on and off, sat a resident of Iraq named Raed. He was taking advantage of technology as well, doing a form of reporting that would not have been possible in the past, as he updated his Blog "Where is Raed?"

He gave people an insider's view of what was going on as Americans stormed the castle.

In a 3.24.03 post he writes.. "Today the B52s took off at 3pm, in half an hour we will know whether it is Baghdad tonight or another city. Karbala was also hit last night. Today’s (and last night’s) shock attacks didn’t come from airplanes but rather from the airwaves. The images Al-jazeera is broadcasting are beyond any description.. People were lying on the floor with bandages and blood all over. If this is what “urban warfare” is going to look like we’re in for disaster. This war is starting to show its ugly ugly face to the world.

..While buying groceries the woman who sells the vegetables was talking to another about the approach of American armies to Najaf city and about what is happening at Um Qasar and Basra. If Um Qasar is so difficult to control what will happen when they get to Baghdad? It will turn uglier and this is very worrying. People (and I bet “allied forces”) were expecting things to be mush easier. There are no waving masses of people welcoming the Americans nor are they surrendering by the thousands. People are doing what all of us are, sitting in their homes hoping that a bomb doesn’t fall on them and keeping their doors shut."

I visited his site once or twice during the war, but for some reason lost track of it. Despite my non-visitation he was blogging away. Since the last time I clicked, Raed has moved from Baghdad to Mosul.

Here, in an 8.2.03 post he talks about the electricity problems.. " guess you've been hearing news about Mosul? Well it's worse. The security situation isn't too bad (they don't rely on Americans in these parts- if they did it wouldn't be any better than Baghdad). Electricity is more or less sorted out (although we do have problems)- and no, it wasn't the Amreeeekan who got things running, thank you very much."

The Deaths of Uday and Qusay.. "Things are really bad for females everywhere. Here it's somewhat safer, but not too much. People are boiling over because of the whole Uday/Qusai saga... I mean give me a break- something like 400 troops for 4 guys??? You'd think they'd want them alive with numbers like that! People are infuriated because of the whole commotion- planes flying, Apaches hovering and freaked-out troops shooting right and left (yes, they shot civilians)."

And a chat with an American soldier.. "'I know what we have done is right and we had to do it but there must have been a better way to do it.' When a soldier starts his conversation like this you can’t help but really really like him. He was standing in the heat, yesterday it was about 52C, guarding the entrance to building where our “governing council” meets. .. He made sure I got my pieces of paper back and let us in. But he left us with one more pearl of wisdom: 'They tell you it’s the Oil but I know it is not the Oil, I just can’t figure out what the hell it is we are here for.'"

At first glance, the blog is a little hard to get into. Once you realize that he's writing about a real situation.. nope, it wasn't a movie.. that's when it gets interesting.

Check him out at.. http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/ *Note - That's not him in the picture. Just a snatch off Google that fit.

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It's All Clear For Ja Rule's Return - 4:15 p.m.
Irv Gotti decided that Ja needed to give the people a break from his patented R&B/rap flavored growl, overexposure was killing them, that and the impossibility of overcoming 50 Cent mania. It's way too obvious to say that since "Wanksta" escaped from mixtape land 50 has been wearing the People's Heavyweight Championship Crown, platinum-coated and tilted slightly to the left. There he is onstage doing the mini-bop with a little grin on his face that says.. "I'm geting paid for this?" Like I said, that would be too obvious, so I won't say it :T

The other thing keeping Irv and Ja from doing the gangsta boogie with a rhythm and blues swing, has been the ongoing case with the Feds. For the comatose: at the top of the year, Murder Inc's offices were raided by police with bulletproof vests and loaded shotties. One officer waved a raggedy coffee stained search warrant around like they'd just marched into Baghdad. "Don't move muthaf-ckas. We got a warrant!" More info? Here's the affidavit the authorities submitted to the judge to get the warrant.

Things have been quiet surrounding the case, but recent information says that the accused have cut deals with the prosecution. Jon Ragin and Derek Hayes are said to be close associates of Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff who prosecutors suspect to have secretly provided financial backing for Murder INC. Ragin and Hayes were accused of using a phony tuxedo rental business as a front for laundering proceeds from stolen credit cards. Prosecutors also claim that McGriff, not Irv Gotti, is the real man in charge of Murder INC.

McGriff and Gotti deny this and neither have been charged in the ongoing investigation. McGriff is currently serving a 37 month sentence on separate charges of illegal gun possession. Court papers show that last week, Jon Ragin plead guilty to credit card fraud and money laundering, and faces 15 to 19 1/2 years in prison at sentencing on Oct. 31. Derek Hayes, has also agreed to a plea bargain with prosecutors in Brooklyn. The details of the plea bargins weren't revealed to the press.

Although Irv Gotti had not been charged, the resolution of this case should clear the air for new music from your boy Ja. He was last sighted in South Africa, doing concert dates and allegedly threatening club DJs. You know you love him; you miss his warm touch. Don't worry. Ja will be back soon, baby. *muah*

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Gregory Hines Passes Away
It seems like every week another entertainer passes away. You don't realize how human these "stars" are until you hear that their sick, laid up in the hospital, or in this case, they pass away. Hines died of cancer this past Saturday in Los Angeles.

I can't say that I was a huge tap dancing fan, but you had to recognize the talent of the man. He was one of the last of his breed. He kept the spirit of tap dancing alive long enough to inspire and pass the torch to Savion Glover.

His mark wasn't only made in the dance world, he also appeared in over 40 TV shows and movies. In 1997 he had his own series "The Gregory Hines Show" but most teens and young adults will recognize him from "Waiting to Exhale," released in 1995. Lord knows I do. An old girlfriend of mine used to watch that thing every damn day... Hey.. Wait a minute. Maybe that's why she's an old girlfriend. She was looking to get her groove back. Pleez, I was grooving that back 3 times a week, not including the weekend. :]

"Gregory Oliver Hines was born on February 14, 1946, in New York City. He has said his mother urged him and his older brother toward tap dancing because she wanted them to have a way out of the ghetto. When he was a toddler, he said, his brother was already taking tap lessons and would come home and teach him steps. They began performing together when Gregory Hines was five, and they performed at the Apollo for two weeks when he was six."

"I don't remember not dancing," Hines said in a 2001 interview with The Associated Press. "When I realized I was alive and these were my parents, and I could walk and talk, I could dance." - Sammy Davis Jr.Com

I'm really late on today's post, so I'll wrap it up. G Hines.. it's been great man. See you at the Cotton Club in the heavens. 1

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Jack Whitaker Gets Robbed at the Stripclub - 3:26 p.m.
Mike Tyson filed for bankruptcy yesterday, after spending over $300 million throughout his career. He can thank a bunch of dumb purchases and hands in his pockets for that. Nothing sneaky about him being broke, just not knowing his business and living around parasites.

He's not the only person to blow a wad of cash. It's an under-reported fact that a large number of million dollar lottery winners end up spending the money as quickly as they get it. There are companies like JDP Associates that offer loans to lottery winners based against their future payments (assuming you go for the 20-year payout.) Even when these people get a lump sum of cash, they get sucked into bad deals, meet new "family members," give handouts and whatever else burns dough like tissue paper. In 5 years they're broke and scratching off lotto tickets again.

Last year, Jack Whitaker (the guy in the picture) won the $314 million Powerball . He decided to take one cash payment of $114 million. That's a big hit if you ask me.. 50% off the top. I mean you can expect to live 20 years, why not take the full $314? Anyway.. in the press conference to accept his winnings he said this, "The very first I'm going to do is sit down and make out three checks to three pastors for ten percent of this check." That's right, he's giving money to the church. He also said he would give money to his family and expand his contracting business.

If you were looking for a lil cash from this generous and seemingly good man, you could have found him at the Pink Pony stripclub in Cross Lanes, West Virginia. Jackie was there last night. He pulled up to the spot in a black Navigator, went in the bar and left the SUV running. When he went inside someone smashed his window and stole a briefcase containing $245,000.00 in cash and three blank $100,000.00 cashier checks. When the smashed window was discovered, the cops were called and they searched the area only to find that the stolen goods were hidden behind a trash bin. HaH! It must have been the same guys who stole Lil Kim's jewelry at the airport and put it in a locker.

I don't know what ol Jack was doing at a stripclub. Either he was in a big hurry to see some nakedness or he was doing business.. late.. at 2:30 a.m.. yeah ok. In any case, he was a regular because the County Sheriff said, "Everybody in the bar knew that it was his Navigator." This is the thing though, what are doing riding around with $245,000 in cash? And blank cashier checks.. that's nice. If he doesn't watch out he's gonna be dancing on those tables asking women (or men) to stick a buck between his ass cheeks. "No money, give me some honey." *shake* *shake*

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Big Ruben Made A Side Deal?
The owners of hip-hop clothing maker 205 Flava Inc. say they secretly paid Ruben to wear their jerseys. Ruben's 705's jerseys were all the rage on American Idol, everyone wanted to what the 205 stood for. Ruben proudly said that it repped his hometown area code.

Later in the show he stopped wearing them, guess he discovered that 205 was making money from his free advertisements. But a lawyer for Willie and Frederick Jenkins, owners of 205, says a deal was worked out before the show began. In a press conference yesterday, they showed copies of checks totalling $10,000 made out to Ruben's brother, Kevin Studdard and his manager, Ron Edwards. He also said that Ruben told them to keep it on the down down "keep this confidential" because Fox network doesn't allow "American Idol" contestants to make contracts until after the show is over. The news of this deal would make sense, seeing that 205 was in huge letters.. all on TV, every week. If there was no deal with the company he was a fool not to have worked one out.

205's owner's say that Ruben approached them about the deal around March and asked for $1000 a week, which increased to $1500 as the show went on.

Ruben's attorney had no comment but said, the public will hear his side of the story soon. Ruben has sued 205 claiming that it was his idea to put 205 on the jersey's and he didn't authorize them to promote the sale of the jersey's.

Ruben's fire from winning American Idol was quickly washed out when the media decided to embrace Clay Aiken. It was a really close vote, and they chose their winner George Bush style. How else do you explain him getting the cover of Rolling Stone before Ruben? The second-place guy gets the interviews. Ruben is in this month's issue, but to tell you the truth, I could care less who won. The real winner.. Frenchie.. was booted early.

All I know is, that Luther Vandross-lite crooning was not doing it for me, and showtune alley singing Clay.. I mean come on, who's listening to showtunes these days?

We all know that big, red/blonde hair, full-breasted black woman would have put those boys to shame.

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Nas Burns Magazines Without Any Fire - 2:23 p.m.
As a kid I used to push the food on my dinner plate into three sections: the best, the worst, and what is this? Of course, I saved the best for last, who wants the taste of asparagus lingering in your mouth? I approached this month's XXL in much the same manner, read just about every story before I got to the main course: Nas the Media Assassin Fires Back.
Besides the fake flames, I was impressed with his nerve and literally smiling as I got into the first paragraph. "This is gonna be good," I thought.

Not halfway through the article did my brow wrinkle up and pain shot through my retina. It was damn painful reading the thing. If you haven't read it yet, I'll save you time and sum it up in a sentence or two: Nas has gotten bad press ever since Illmatic; he hates the media, none of them, NONE have repped hip-hop 100%. Artists have to sell out to eat; artists should get everything they can while they're hot; he doesn't care if he's on a magazine cover, but they're ok.. he'll still do them..

You see a pattern developing here? This is the kind of tepidity Jay-Z mentioned. It's seriously hard to understand where he's coming from.. for example he says, "The mainstream always likes the cardboard-copy fake shit. That's the shit that's marketable, but it has no real substance. That's the dumb shit." Two questions later he includes Cash Money Records as one of hip-hop's saviors. "I think we all play our part, just we have different messages. But we're all coming around to the same things."

I understand Cash Money's contribution, they gave us the bling bling era.. that little piece of slang.. the hot fifteen minutes. I'm cool with that. but what exactly constitutes cardboard-copy fake shit if it's not what Cash Money brought into the game? If you want to be righteous about the quality of music you can't include them as an example of something beneficial.

It wasn't just that comment, it's the tone of the entire article: pointing out what's wrong, what people should do.. forget all that. You do it.

Ghostface's article comes in right behind Nas.. the wisdom speak was good reading.. but he mentions the gun clap, money aspect of the music too. Can he critique the subject when he has a medallion the size of a spaghetti saucer around his neck? Timbaland was on 106 and Park on Friday, he was happy and more cheerful than I've ever seen him.. he also had news. He's gonna retire. He said the game wasn't the same. He remembered when he used to ride around playing Eric B and Rakim's first album for months. Today he can't find any album's like that, nothing to live to, so he's ready to go.

Some 15-year-old in the audience yelled out exactly what he and any other rapper who has complaints about the shape of the music biz should consider.. "So do something about it."

If nobody's talking knowledge, you do it. You make the hot, brain food album. If your the greatest MC, the greatest producer, the hot lyricist.. if you have the knowledge that people need to hear. Put it out there. Who else is gonna do it? Set the example.

Because he had some valid complaints.. I would have loved to hear Nas say that the media ain't worth a damn and this will be my last interview. That's saying something. And it makes the burning of the mags meaningful. Other than that.. I learned nothing. I hope it's only me though.. Ghostface, pleez I love his style. Timbaland should sing like Pharell.. now that would be classic. And I don't hate Nas.. Illmatic, It Was Written, The Firm, and Stillmatic.. get rotation. He just drives me nuts with his f-ck the world attitude when no one actually dislikes him. His first year fans may cry foul about his current music, but he should learn to shrug that off, demonstrate the black unity he speaks of and announce the coming together of a real story.. Jay-Z and Nas: Global Mic Domination Vol.1

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Kobe Loses 500 Grand, Gets Love From Fans
The Kobe Bryant case starts this Wednesday and the court proceeding will be broadcast on TV - not sure which channel, but the coverage is sure to be right up there with the OJ Case. Due to what the court labeled "security concerns" the case is scheduled to begin at 4 P.M. the last court business of the day.
In addition to asking what evidence will be introduced and if the girl's story will hold up under scrutiny, reporters have wondered if he'll lose any of his endorsement contracts.

Sure enough, word is that Nutella, maker of a hazlenut-chocolate, peanut butter type spread, has dropped his $500,000.00 contract. It's supposedly popular in the UK. I honestly almost bought a jar a month ago.. mainly because it said "Kobe's favorite." I didn't buy it. I wasn't to sure about that hazlenut and chocolate combo. Maybe if I would have conducted an unoffical, impromptu taste test.. screw the jar open, dip a finger in, put it back.. maybe that would have gotten $2.69 from the wallet.

Nutella says their decision had nothing to do with Kobe's legal troubles, they planned this month's ago. A spokesman put the final stamp on it.. "We are not planning to work with him in the future."

Sprite has also pulled back on his ads.. but they haven't dropped him, they're still on the fence. Which is probaly the right place to be.

If the reception at this past Saturday's Teen Choice Awards is any sign then Kobe has nothing to worry about as far as love from his fans. With Vanessa at his side, Kobe walked out to nothing but cheers and chants of "Kobe.. Kobe..Kobe."

There was also a rumor that he showed up at Rucker Park a week ago. Rucker Park, for those that aren't familiar, is the home of the infamous Entertainers's Basketball Classic. I'm not sure if he was there, but the story I heard had him bouncing the ball of someone's back, around his own back and then hitting the shot. *shrug* If he was there, it was all love.

If that and the reception at the Teen Choice Awards means anything, then he should have nothing to worry about. These are the people who Nike, McDonalds, and the rest market to every day.. they have to take notice of that.

You know, unless the prosectution pulls out a videotape and says.. "is that you grabbing hair and slapping ass? Mr. Bryant! Is that you saying, you know you like it, you know you want it?"

Man, this could get crazy.

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