Bill Clinton, Umm.. Shynes at the Democratic Convention - 12:27 p.m.
Watching some commentators on NBC news over the weekend I wanted to grab a tire iron and bash a hole through the screen. That would have done me no good at all. Who's gonna clean up that mess? What got me so pissed was all the laughing and joking and about how silly, useless, and played out political conventions are. It just bugs me that these same dumbasses expect people to run out and vote, yet they give them little to no information on the people they'll be voting on. Unless so and so choked on a pretzel or another one busts his ass while skiing down a mountain, the candidates get 10 second soundbites at best on network TV.

The Democratic and Republican conventions are like the team meeting before the big game. The coach brings everyone into the locker room, the coaching staff talk a bit, each one getting the players more pumped than the next. The meeting concludes with a Remember the Titans type speech by the head coach, now everyone's feeling right. They go charging onto the field ready to kick ass.. or vote.
Bill Clinton isn't the head coach, but he definitely had people pumping their fists. I don't want to dilute his message when he can speak for himself. C-Span has links to all of the speakers on their site. If you want a shortcut to Bill Clinton's speech, I posted it here. As the headline says he "shyned." That's spin for the best speech of the night. Give Hillary exactly 1 minute and 5 seconds to introduce him.. then it flows in it's entirety. Give BC time to get into his groove before he starts glowing. Watch It (Realvideo)

So Shyne How Do You Feel About 50 Cent? - 1:14 p.m.
Did you hear about Shyne's comments about 50 Cent? MTV spoke to him at the Clinton Correctional Facility where he dismissed 50 as a kid and someone not worthy of respect. "You hear me, he's a kid to me," Shyne said of 50. "He's like a little dude. In here we call them 'my little homies.'"

MTV asked him about a record called "For the Record" where he responds to a line 50 spit in a HOT 97 freestyle.. like six months ago. That freestyle was posted here, but here's the text-cert: "I heard Irv trying to sign Shyne, so I don't got no love for him/ Tell him 50 said he's soft, he won't shoot up the club again."
Shyne says at the time 50 was trying to sign him to G-Unit, which obviously didn't work out.

"For the Record" will be on his new album. But if it's "for the record" it better be about more than 50 Cent cause this is the best line MTV could quote from it.. "Cause jail only made me a much more ruthless nigga/ And the bitch nigga knew this/ That's why he tried to sign me to G-Unit."

That's barely worth getting upset over and 50's line.. saying he's soft if he signed to Murder INC.. wasn't even worth the response. He didn't sign there and I haven't heard 50 speaking on him any further. The thing was six months+ old. For Shyne's credit he says even if 50 does respond, it's the last time he'll speak on him. He said 50's "a joke" not worth taking seriously.

What would really be interesting is a collabo between Shyne and Ja-Rule. Talk about pissed. That would guarantee a response from 50 and it has to be something Irv Gotti craves. His boy needs a big time credibility boost. Not to say Ja-Rule is a punk or anything, but he handled the 50 situation all wrong. 50 trashed his career like KRS One did to MC Shan. That's taking it back.. "The Bridge is Over".. "The Bridge." It doesn't get any better than that.

MC Shan didn't say that hip-hop started in Queensbridge, he said they used to do in the park. Like every other hood in NY. But KRS One twisted him up so bad no one gave a damn; it was funny and it sounded good.

Same thing happened between Ja and 50. I doubt if 50 can conjure up the same energy to come at Shyne the same way. First of all.. I believe people are tired of the beef raps. I could be wrong, but it's like where does that take you. Something ultimately has to happen and not even Nas was willing to take it to the stage to battle Old School style. Ironically if this does continue Shyne could use his non-fear of 50 to further his reputation. Much like 50 did when he got at Ja-Rule.. no response meant he must be scared to the public, which made his songs hollow and wood numbers on the Soundscan charts. We'll see where this goes.

The 9/11 Commission: Sipping Cocktails in Waikiki
Last week the 9/11 commission released the "final and definitive" account of the World Trade Center attack. I've got to quote that because in their minds it is the final stamp, but so many times during the hearings they seemed ignorant to the most obvious questions that should've been asked.

One question is.. How were four airplanes hijacked within minutes of each other with men holding boxcutters? No one scratched their head to imagine how four pilot crews just gave up to a razor, or how they got in the cockpit in the first place. What they do knock and say "room service?" At one time it was said they slashed the stewardesses throats or threatened to, but that story got lost with Mohammed Atta's passport. Remember when reports came in saying they found his passport in the rubble of the towers.. blocks away. Something like that - a visual - you think would have been on every TV station. Never heard if it was bullshit or anything, just stopped talking about it.

And how about this.. About a month ago they played a tape that somehow captured the voice of one of the terrorists. This is moments after the plane from Boston was hijacked. He tells the passengers to relax and on one will get hurt. The plane has been hijacked, we are going back to the airport. Now never mind the calmness in his voice, how about that he said they were going back to the airport. Why would he say that if he knows they are going to slam into the towers?
At this point they have full control of the plane and 70 virgins in the back of their minds. Why would they feel the need to comfort the passengers. Why lie? It's just crazy to me that no one on the commission or anyone in the major media while playing the tape.. would think, "Didn't he say they were going BACK to the airport, as in back to Boston."

I'll leave out the conspiracy theories to ask this. So now we have the final report.. The commission signed off on it with a bunch of recommendations on what to do to prevent another attack. They hand each of the members of Congress a copy, the White House has theirs and thousands are sent to bookstores across the country so we can read it on the beach. Hah ha! Honestly, who's gonna flip through those 600 pages? Not many. It's so sad.. all weekend even newscasters have been joking about it. That and Bill Clinton's thousand page monster. I'm all for reading but damn. That's a little much. Apparently Congress felt it was too much as well.
Over the past few weeks the White House has been saying that another attack might happen, probably will happen, will happen, it's imminent, they may try stop the election. Where, when, no one knows, but it's coming and will be worse then the World Trade Center attack, so brace yourself. With those kinds of alerts going on and the commission offering up suggestions for what should be done to prevent attack.. What does Congress do?.. They go on vacation.

Everyone needs time off from the job, but these are people supposed to be leading the country and in the face of an imminent terrorist attack, they decide to go on vacation. And to top it off, it's said when they comeback, they probably won't have time to implement the recommendations. Maybe next year.

It's just a crazy Michael Moore theory of how things are done. If you haven't seen the movie, it's exactly the same thing that happened before 9/11. Really crazy. As I write this Bush is saying he will use some of the recommendations that can be implemented by executive order.

This November - terrorist attacks be damned - I will still be voting for John Kerry, but he is far from the best candidate. Kerry's Skull and Bones affiliation and just the way he talks just doesn't come off as genuine. What does Skull and Bones have to with anything.. I don't know and if you ask him or anyone involved they won't tell you. Got to vote for someone though and my choice is anyone except Bush. On the morning news they listed four things Kerry says he would do to fight terrorism.

1. Find the terrorist sanctuaries
2. Increase US - Saudi relationship
3. U.S. example
4. Working with other countries

The biggest what the hell in there is increasing the US - Saudi relationship. He says we need them to help find the terrorists in their country. That has got to be the easiest one on the list. All he has to do is ask Bush to lend him his address book. All the names, birthdays, and special occasions are highlighted. And Saudi Prince Bandar who has hung out Bush's ranch and says he has had great relationships with all the administrations will be happy to know that the good times will continue.

Three things to look out for in the coming year will be the warnings to Iran, a possible draft, and another attack. I hope that last one is a scare tatic, but if it isn't why go on vacation?

Eminem to Play Dmitriy Salita in "Golden Boy" - 12:53 p.m.
Nuff movie critics were drooling at the "natural charisma" Eminem displayed in 8 Mile. Some celebrities went so far as to call him the new James Dean. Let me check that..Yup, here is Sopranos star Joe Pantoliano aka Joey Pants..drooling. "All of our heroes. Look at Eminem. I mean -- I so identified as a 51-year-old male with Eminem and the work that he did. And that the movie -- the fact that this movie did $54 million this weekend, it's not about a bunch of kids watching this. There's adults going to see this guy, and I think he's the James Dean of the new millennium. I mean, I think he's got so much to say. He's a genius."

That was after one movie, what the hell will they say after he does his next film? That will be answered soon. Eminem is set to star in Golden Boy. The movie is based on the life of "the next junior-welterweight champion" Dmitriy Salita. The 22-year-old Ukraine born boxer has made a name for himself without winning a single title.. What he does sport is an 18-0 record and a story that Hollywood movies are made of. Dmitriy's father brought the family from Russia to the US when he was 13-years-old. *Plop* They landed smack dab in the middle of Brooklyn, NY.

When he went to school or walked the streets, his out of place looks got him tossed around by the bullies. In a Washington Post interview he said, "I had very bad clothes -- high-water slacks, stuff from Russia, and sneakers that were like $5, just the cheapest stuff, because we didn't have any money. Once I was surrounded by seven boys, so I picked up the desk that was closest to me and threw it, then I fought my way out of the classroom." His pops didn't want to see his son getting punked so he took him to learn kick boxing. His brother, Misha thought boxing would be a better idea so he took him to a gym in Starrett City [a housing complex in Brooklyn.] It was there that he met Jimmy O'Pharrow - the black guy with the hat on - Jimmy poured some chocolate into his style, just enough to surprise the black kids who continued to laugh at him.

"Most of the people he fought were black boys, and so they'd look at him and say, 'Aw, I'm gonna kick this little white boy's ass,' " O'Pharrow says proudly. "Then when they'd get in there, they'd say, 'Oh, shit. I've got something on my hands.'" How did he pour the chocolate?.. "He had that European style, he was a stand-up-straight fighter," recalls O'Pharrow. "I changed him from that to the American style he has now -- lean a little, slip to the side, go down underneath the punches, bobbing and weaving. I taught him to fight like a black boy."

Since going pro he has an 18-0 record with 11 knockouts. Ranked at #15, O'Pharrow would like nothing less than to see Dmitriy wrap the championship belt around his waist. It's all that Dmitriy thinks about.. "Boxing consumes me," he told the NY Post. "I'm not doing this just to be written about once or twice. I'm doing this to be great, to be a world champion, to make the Hall of Fame. I'm not settling for less. I want to make history."

With the movie in the works I'm guessing that he has to keep winning. In boxing all it takes one loss for your whole career to go downhill. Unless they change it to a guy who tried to win the title and got knocked out. Now he sits at home depressed, gets hooked on crack, becomes a male prostitute and dies of a deadly disease. You know, with Eminem playing this role.. it puts him right back in 8 Mile. There he was the lone white guy battling it out with the black rappers from the hood. He defeats them and takes off on his own.. even left his friends. Here Em will once again have the chance to slay the Boyz from the Hood. I didn't write this to make a racial point, it just hit me that the stories are similar. One thing is for sure: this is gonna be a huge movie. It's being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer aka "the man behind Hollywood's blockbuster muscle movies." So we're talking something with a high-gloss shine and money to promote it.

How serious is it? Eminem is currently training with Lennox Lewis' former trainer Emanuel Steward. -- For more on Dmitriy check out his site Dsalita.com.

Don't Call Him Nelly.. Call Him Bobcat Nelly - 12:39 p.m.
I was looking at this story about Nelly buying into the Charlotte Bobcats franchise and it suddenly hit me.. Rappers are finally doing smart things with their dough.

It started with Master P.. but he was on some childhood dream sh-t, wanting to jump from a label owner to being a player on the court. Isn't that called hustling backwards? Then P. Diddy floated a message to the press, he wanted to buy into the NY Knicks. Those crazy bastards in the Knicks executive suites told him to beat it, they were doing just find f-cking up the team on their own. The last thing they needed was P. Diddy holding concerts during halftime. I mean, really, first you need a winning team before the dancing and champagne bottles start popping.

Jay-Z was/is a regular at Madison Square Garden so he probably heard Puffy talking and thought, "that's a good idea, genius." But if the Knicks weren't selling why not go across the river and tap the New Jersey Nets. The next thing you know, Jay-Z is on the local news, all suited up, talking about his partial ownership of the team. He's gotta be crying right now.. How the hell do you trade Kenyon Martin? You know Jay had no say in that.. After he announced his buy into the team he was constantly in a Kenyon Martin jersey. Martin was their thug quotient. Now what happens.. Richard Jefferson jerseys for everybody? I would say slip on the Jason Kidd, but even he has been involved in trade rumors.

Still.. the ownership stake is what's important. Puffy still talks about his desire for a team, but who would have thought that Nelly would jump on this trend.

I say trend, cause this is almost like rappers having clothing lines. It's the in thing to do.

As part of Bobcats Basketball Holdings, LLC.. Nelly joins a group that includes former NBA player ML Carr, NASCAR racing teams owner Felix Sabates, former CEO of Bank of America, Hugh McColl, and of course BET CEO Bob Johnson, who holds the majority stake.

What percentage of the team Nelly owns wasn't disclosed, nor were financial terms. The legal stuff has been processed though and Nelly couldn't be happier. In a statement he expressed how he is similar to Bob Johnson (a $3 billionaire) because they come from the same roots.

"Bob and I share the same commitment to diversity, and we are both self-made, having worked up from the very bottom to reach where we are today," Nelly said. "I look forward to learning about the business of professional sports ownership from him, and I also look forward to meeting the Bobcats fans and becoming an active member of the Charlotte community in the future."

I mentioned how smart this was but didn't get into it at all. It's pretty obvious that owning a team is better than owning a neck full of chains and rimmed up cars galore. Truly rich people spend money to make money. The babies make babies.. and then we talk playtime.

Martha Stewart Says She's Not Nelson Mandela
Last Friday Martha Stewart faced a judge to see just how long she would sit behind bars for the guilty verdict that said she lied about her sale of Imclone stock in 2001. Facing a maximum of sixteen months in prison, she got a whopping five months, five house arrest, and two years probation.

Later on the court steps she gave a statement to the press where she encouraged everyone to buy her products and subscribe to her magazine. Taking a page from Bush's.. all's well, go out and shop ethic. She wasn't free to speak during the trial, but now that the trial was over she was letting her lips flap. In an interview with ABC news she took it all the way to South Africa making a reference to Nelson Mandela.. "I could do it," she said about the jail time. "I'm a really good camper. I can sleep on the ground. There are many, many good people who have gone to prison. Look at Nelson Mandela."

That's an offbeat comparison that makes you say, "Huh? Where did she pull that from? Been reading a few books in the back of the limo?" If we're talking "good" people.. she could have went with Gandhi. He was in prison for awhile, a big fan of the non-violence thing. Lets see.. Jesus Christ. He was persecuted and kinda nice to people. I mean let's really take it there. Martha Stewart was on Larry King last night and explained it this way.. "I said Nelson Mandela was able to survive twenty seven years in prison. I'm sure I could survive five months. I wasn't comparing myself to Nelson Mandela. I'm not a Nobel prize winner."

That makes sense. Martha Stewart got off so easy in this case, yet her lawyers are telling her to appeal the verdict. That is just dumb. We're talking five months in jail and five months house arrest. The appeal process will take longer than that, she could serve the time and get back to her life. Which I may add will not be hurting in the least. Unlike some kid from the hood she won't have trouble finding a job or have trouble paying the additional $30,000 fine she was hit with. In the Larry King interview she said, "I was waiting for them to ask me for it," then she laughed and quickly checked herself. "I'm not joking about it. I owe it." Larry King was looking at her as if to say, "there goes those lips again."

I once read this article where LL Cool J was asked what he did with all the money he's made over the years. Apparently he's not hurting in the cash department. He said one word, "invest." The guy asked, "invest in what?.." LL said, "I'm not gonna tell you what to invest in. Just invest."

Unlike my friend LL, I'll give you some investment advice. Buy stock in Martha Stewart's company. The stock is currently at $10 off a high of $19 at the time that the scandal broke. Those oh so smart analysts have been sitting around talking about how she's finished and her company is in trouble. Advertisers have drifted from her magazine. That's slow thinking. Once this chick serves the five months she's gonna be damn near possessed in her desire to get things back to normal. It all starts with a book, which she plans to write, and from there it's back to TV. Before you know it everyone is talking about her comeback and NOW.. the story will be how the stock has bounced back. First she has to give up the appeal BS and just serve the five months. I'm no expert.. but once the stock bottoms out, at CD prices, we're talking easy money.

Marion Jones Drops Out of 200 Meter Race - 3:31 p.m.
The Olympics begin on August 13th, as of this Saturday Marion Jones, winner of five medals in the 2000 Olympics, will only be competing in one contest. Marion Jones has been involved in the recent controversy over steroid use by track and field athletes. She has yet to test positive for the drugs herself. A spokesman for Marion says she has passed 84 tests between 1997 and 2002, as well as monthly tests unrelated to competitions.

Last Thursday she erased some of the suspicion with a 23'4 jump to qualify for the long jump competition; her longest jump since 1998. This after a 22'3 jump on her first attempt. To further shush the doubters, this past Saturday she was expected to qualify for the 200 meter race. The race happened, but Marion wasn't in it. Citing exhaustion she pulled out of the race. At a press conference she explained, "My reasoning for pulling out of the 200 today is simply because of fatigue. There's no other reason. After running my round yesterday I was simply tired, exhausted. It happens. It hasn't happened in the past. I woke up this morning, I was tired. I've always told myself that if I cannot give 100% out on the track then I won't go out there."

It's still possible that she will try out for the 400 meter relay team and chance that she can get into the 100 meter race. Tori Edwards, the second place winner in that match faces a drug hearing today. She admitted to testing positive for a stimulant in April. If she's bounced from the Olympics the fourth place winner, Gail Devers would get her spot. However Gail has two medals for the 100 meter and will likely focus on the hurdles, which would slide Marion Jones into the slot.

A friend of mine has taken Marion's struggles to mean that she is a steroid head... or at least used to be. I had to point out that she had just had a baby and is coming off of a 16 month lag time. Where is that Marion quote.. "I think I underestimated childbirth. It was a challenge. I was able to get my weight down quite easily, I feel fit, I look fit. It really didn't happen out there this week. Sure we can attribute it to childbirth, to distractions." Ah.. distractions. That was the other thing, the steroid questions continue to be thrown her way, it's just stressful and takes focus off her training.

I'm not the woman's PR rep, but I understand that championships are built on months, sometimes years, of practice and training. Those 8-10 second matches require intense focus that we really can't comprehend. While that is true, I came across this story that just makes me ask why would she have so many ties to steroids.. and more importantly, if you have that kind of easy access do you use them?

Victor Conte, the owner of an alleged steroid producing company was quoted as saying that Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.. received an undetectable steroid known as "the clear" and a testosterone-based steroid known as "the cream" in exchange for endorsing a zinc-based, legal nutritional product called ZMA. There is supposedly a picture of Jones promoting the ZMA product floating around the web. I couldn't find it, but here's a picture of Victor Conte on the company website. Conte's lawyer denies that he said Jones received steroids from him, "The government put their own spin on anything said by Victor Conte," Robert Holley, Conte's lawyer, said Saturday. "Victor Conte adamantly denies he ever told the government anything about any specific athletes receiving steroids."

I say all that to say.. I hope that Marion Jones isn't "juicing up." That would be sad. It's just disappointing to see, not just her, but any athlete use a cheat sheet to get ahead. In the face of it all Marion continues to claim her innocence and is predicting a return to form, "once this year is over and it ends on a high note in Athens with gold medals and I regroup this summer, then I can get come back to where I was in the past. If not better." She added, "If anything, this down year will provide more motivation to prove to myself and the world that I still have it, that I'm not this old, shriveled-up mother that only runs 11.14 in the 100 meters and pulls out of the semis of the 200 meters. At 29 years old, I'm still able to get it done, and that will be my goal."

Wayans Brothers Sued by A Slice of Pie
A Slice of Pie Productions has served your favorite white chicks with black and white legal papers. The lawsuit alleges that the Wayans Brothers stole the concept of the film White Chicks  from a screenplay called Johnny Bronx

The Connecticut-based production company says they sent the script to the Wayans in 1997. They were hoping to cast Marlon Wayans as the lead in their film. The plot of Johnny Bronx  was that a black FBI agent disguises himself as an Italian mobster to infiltrate the mafia. Which sounds a lot funnier.. and similar to the concept of White Chicks. In that the Wayans are FBI agents who disguise themselves as Hampton socialites. Let me go on record to say that I haven't seen White Chicks  mainly because they don't look like chicks. Drag Queens? Yeah, that's it. Rupaul Vanilla. Mmm Hmm.

According to Keenan Ivory Wayans - remember him? - Shawn came up with the concept. "We were sitting around reading magazines and one of them had a story about Hampton socialites. Shawn was reading the interview and laughing. 'Me and Marlon should play girls like these,' he said. I thought it was a brilliant idea." Kennan made sure this was clear.. "It's not a movie about anyone specifically but about that world of seeing and being seen. I knew if we did it, it would be hysterical. But I wanted to be sure that they looked convincing. That was the real challenge."

Who are you telling? It was so challenging that you lost on all accounts. The look on Marlon's face is mad funny though.. oookayyy. Marlon is the one in pink, don't act like you can't tell. It's a man. They're both men.

You know, if they really wanted to test the makeup out, they should have walked down the streets of Manhattan with a hidden camera. Just to see what kind of real reaction they got as they went into stores, got on the subway, ate in restaurants, went to clubs. Do this before the movie is promoted so it's authentic. If anyone tries to pick them up then test that same muthafucka for laser vision surgery. He definitely needs it.

The whole scene would have made a great addition to the DVD. Now that I'll watch..

It's easy to see the Wayans imititating the Hampton scene, over here its like the biggest thing. The NY Post - that great paper - keeps a weekly record of what celebs were at what club and who bought what at what boutique in the Hamptons. Puffy has his annual parties there.. its New York's mini-version of California's celebrity scene.

It's also easy to see them sitting down to write it and whipping out that old script they got in the mail. James Coppola, A Slice of Pie's chief operating officer says in the suit, "the general idea, plot, theme and even scenes were almost identical" to Johnny Bronx. Coppola is asking for $15 million so he can feel duly compensated for his creative efforts. Can I say this.. I wrote that James Coppola is the chief operating officer. I got that "chief operating officer" from another article, but doesn't that sound like it's this huge company? As far as I can tell this is a two man operation - James Coppola and his twin brother. Hey, I guess you can be the CEO. They make it sound like it's Disney.

I won't be too critical though. After all I am the founder/creative officer of whudat.com. Now how does that sound? Nice.

Lawsuits are touchy things.. Calls to any Wayans publicist, and all of the above named offices, will get you the dial tone.

Eric Benet on Primetime Live - 11:02 a.m.
Last night, Eric Benet was on ABC's Primetime Live. Eric Benet is most famous for being the pretty boy who snagged Halle Berry. It's not that she had never been in a relationship before, but that this unknown singer got her to say those words.. "till death do us part." This came just as her star had begun to shine in Hollywood and here is a semi-semi successful r&b singer exchanging wedding vows with her. What the hell was he bringing to the table? Financially, career wise, it was such a mystery for those that cared.. I know I thought about it for a few seconds.

We all know that Eric Benet ended up cheating on her, it's said he had a sex addiction or something wild like that. During last night's interview he denied that he was a sex addict while admitting that he made some dumb decisions, "Trying to make sense of how someone can love someone, but still manage to commit an act of extreme betrayal, is a real hard one to understand."

No it's not.. He also hinted that they had a less than ideal sexual relationship. In other words she sucked in bed... or maybe she didn't. I bet that's the problem right there. He's like, "Hey, look what we have here.." And she's like, "Yeah, look at it." There is nothing worse than sex by the numbers, especially if your married. Come on. Your supposed to be with this person till the lights go out and a man can't get a little head action.. for the rest of his life? *insert picture of man choosing to be abducted by terrorists with sharp swords and unresolvable demands instead*

He probably thought she would let the freak loose after they got hitched. Hah ha. You been Punkd, son. That may not be the real reason he cheated though. Eric Benet also said he couldn't take being seen as Mr. Halle Berry, "I would be dishonest if I told you that that wasn't an ego blow... the feeling of losing whatever identity I had." Noting that when Halle won the Oscar he had a tough time smiling, "It was hard for me to inhabit the skin of that man. Not just that night, but pretty much every day."

Let me get this right.. Before he married her he was known as who? Hey Eric.. You had no recognition before the marriage. None! I'll admit I bought your first album off the strength of the "Let's Stay Together" single from the A Thin Line Between Love and Hate  soundtrack. And then I was disappointed cause the album wasn't as hot. Your the black Chris Judd. The backup dancer; Britney or J.Lo style, it doesn't matter. Walking down the red carpet we see Halle Berry and guess what.. of course your gonna be called the guy with Halle Berry. How else would anyone know you? The only reason you were there in the first place is because you were married to her. Previous to that you were invited to how many of those award shows? Exactly.

If he was a true playa he would have used that recognition to further his own career. It's not that he can't sing, his style of music just isn't gonna cause a stampede at the record stores. With the comfort of Halle's bank account he could make all the crappy music he could ever come up with, and still have people say it's great, because he's Mr. Halle Berry who just happens to be able to hold a note. That's four more tickets sold for the show. All isn't lost though.. Now he's famous: as the guy that fucked up a marriage with one of the baddest chicks in the game. Yeah, she may have flaws, but there aren't many men with vision that good not to able to look past them. I should say here that the new rumor is that Halle has hooked up with Michael Ealy aka the light skinned kid from Barbershop. From what I can tell, this is a smart guy; he won't purposely mess things up. If he does then Halle may actually have a serious head problem. :P

Kobe Reups With The Lakers For $137 Million
So Kobe decided to stay in LA with a maximum contract. How funny is it that the rumors of people wanting to leave the team started with Kobe.. Then after everyone beats him to it, he stays. With Shaq on the East Coast and Kobe out West the best days of the NBA are in the future. Kenyon Martin on the Nuggets is huge, and who can forget McGrady going to Houston. Yeah, good times are ahead.

For the Lakers Kobe has to beat his case first.. choosing to stay in LA can only help. If he would have signed anywhere else a jury might see it as him thinking that he would get off before a judgement has been made. The trial starts August 27th and is expected to last a few weeks. If he beats it, all the pressure will be off and the new run and gun Lakers will be in effect. You can't replace Shaq with one man, but the three guys they got can play ball. For both Kobe and Shaq the race will be on to see who raises that fourth finger first. The Detroit Pistons will be looking to delay that for as many years as possible. Did someone say repeat?

Kweisi Mfume Talks in the Spin Zone - 1:27 p.m.
President Bush was invited to speak at the NAACP's annual convention this past Saturday. Three weeks ago he had an assistant fire off a letter saying that he wouldn't be able to attend due to scheduling conflicts. On the surface that may sound reasonable, but Bush has served up the same excuse over the four years of his presidency. Each and every year they invite and he says.. "Don't I have golf that weekend? Hmmm. I know I have something to do. Sorry, but thanks for asking."

He spoke at the NAACP convention when he ran for office in 2000. By declining he receives the honor of being the first president since Herbert Hoover not to attend the convention. I don't know much about Hoover, like if he was a racist, but according to The White House he was in office from 1929-1933. So Bushie is taking it old school. In an election year you'd think he would have better sense. Picking up the pieces, John Kerry has accepted an invitation to speak tomorrow - the last day of the convention.

Republicans are smiling and slapping backs over Bush's decision. They say he gets no love from the black community anyway, so why waste the time. They also point out that Julian Bond, in particular, recently criticized Republicans of playing the race card in "election after election." They claim the NAACP is trying to set him up for an embarrassing moment. Meaning he'll get up there, be heckled and booed and the news stations will run the clip endlessly. That's total BS. By virtue of showing up he would get respect by default. If people started going crazy and screaming him off the stage, they would look worse than anything he could possibly say. And really this isn't a debate, he would give a speech and bounce. Just like at any other midwest function you see him at.

Last night, Kweisi Mfume was on Bill O'Reilly's show to talk about the situation. From this transcript, he could barely make a point without O'Reilly offering his own opinion, leading the conversation in his direction. He calls it the No-Spin Zone, but that's just comedy. Lol right. Get outta here with that. Bush should have shown up because it's the right thing to do as the President of the United States. How do you exclude a segment of the population because they have issues with your policies? It's your job as the leader of the country to address the concerns of all its citizens. You can't cherry pick your constituency. That's how it would work in an ideal society, but this country hasn't looked at different races as human beings first from the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Hah ha. Now I'm taking it back.

I'll let Kweisi speak on it.. "Bill, you know, the question is, where do we even go from here? It's like this huge line is in the sand now, you know. We've dug in on our side, they've dug in on their side, and yet, the American public is not better served as a result of this. And even this convention, I think we'd be better served to hear from two candidates as opposed to one, even if it were by videotape."

Isabel Sanford Moves On Up - 10:28 a.m.
I had already posted yesterday and was away from a computer when I heard that Isabel Sanford passed away. I was in the city, a TV was on and a newscaster says that Isabel Sanford died. The name sounded familiar, but the only Sanford I could remember was Redd Foxx from Sanford and Son. They come back from commercials and continue the story.

The newscaster calls this Isabel Sanford, Weezie.. I'm thinking, Weezie? Man, that sounds like an old mammy's name .. Some Amos and Andy, Aunt Jemima pancake box crap. Who walks around with a name like that? They're still talking.. "Isabel Sanford best known for her role as Weezie Jefferson." *Ding Ding Ding* Oh, George's wife from The Jeffersons. Now I know who she is. Gold star for Chris! Then I had to ask, why did he call her Weezie in the first place? On the show her name was Louise Jefferson. So why waste all those syllables, just cut the lou and get to the weez. It's a lil luv thing, like calling your overweight girlfriend pudding. That's nice.

Isabel Sanford had been at California's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since July 4th. Her health had gone ill since having preventative surgery on a neck artery late last year. She passed away on Friday, July 9th with her daughter Pamela Ruff at her side. Isabel Sanford was 86-years-old and is survived by three daughters, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Of course, condolences go out to the family. What I like to hear is how people got to a place in their lives that they are able to bring joy into other people's lives. The joy in this case is the The Jeffersons, which ran from 1975-1985. Many of you are to young to remember it.. but you can remember this. Isabel Sanford was born in Harlem in 1917. When she was a teenager she thought of herself as a singer. Her mother didn't think so. Isabel would sneak out of the house to perform at nightclubs. Apparently she wasn't too bad. Entering the Apollo Theatre's Amateur Night she won third place. Now her name was on people's tongues, which left her no choice but to tell her mom what she'd been doing.

Her singing career didn't pop off, but she continued in entertainment. She got married, had three children and worked as a data entry clerk at the New York City welfare office, while performing with theatre groups and Off-Broadway plays during the night. Years later her husband died.. or she left him. I've heard two different versions. But she decided to take her kids to Hollywood and chase her acting dream. There she got more theatre roles and eventually caught the attention of film director Stanley Kramer who cast her as a maid in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" which starred Sidney Poitier. She got $600 for her services, but she received rave reviews for her performance and was offered a recurring role on the TV show All in the Family. She and Sherman Helmsley were to play Archie Bunker's neighbors.. The Jeffersons.

At first he thought it was a crappy and racist show.. In a 1996 interview she recalled, "I didn't like the way Archie Bunker talked about black people. But I decided to watch the next episode anyway to see if I could determine why they would allow this trash to be on the air, and I found myself falling down laughing."

Needless to say she accepted and four years later their roles were spun off into the TV show The Jeffersons. The premise being that George's dry cleaning business was bringing in the dough. They were able to move out of Archie's neighborhood and into a Manhattan apartment building. Yup, moving on up.. To the east side.. To a deeeeluxe apartment in the skyyy yyy.

Shaq Speeds Outta LA. Next Stop, Miami Beach - 11:00 a.m.
Miami is known for its nightlife and bikini clad women and in a few days it'll be known as the home of Shaquille O'Neill. NBA teams can't officially sign contracts until July 14th, but all signs point to Shaq hanging up his Lakers jerseys and skating off to the sunny skies of Miami. After Shaq met with Heat president Pat Riley this past Saturday, Shaq's agent says he would be totally bamboozled if Shaq was in a Lakers uniform next season.

To compensate the Lakers for their generosity the Heat will give up Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, and Caron Butler. Rumors of this trade had been swirling, NBA insider Peter Vescey got word that Kobe said he would endorse the deal and stay with the Lakers if Dwayne Wade was included in the package. Pat Riley is not likely to give him up, but wouldn't that be crazy if Kobe stayed with the Lakers after all that yap about leaving? Kobe wants to get into a more run and gun style of basketball. With new head coach Rudy Tomjanovich he'll be free do whatever he likes. No way he tells him to stop shooting. We'll see how that turns out.
When asked about the legitimacy of this trade LA's GM Mitch Kupchak said, "When there is something to report, we'll report it. Shaquille has a unique way of letting me know information I should know."

Forget what he says, this is a done deal. There is no way that Shaq plays for the Lakers next season and the talk about him going to Dallas has all but died down. Besides Shaq has a big ass mansion in Orlando, Florida. That's just a freeway trip to the Heat's home at The American Airlines Arena.

The Heat made the playoffs last year, with this move they will be expected to do more than that - already you hear people chanting championship. Designing NBA Finals t-shirts and crap. Pat Riley gave up half the team to get Shaq, so he'll have to rely on the efforts of Eddie Jones and Dwayne Wade. Pat Riley loves to structure teams around centers (Lakers - Kareem Abdul Jabaar, Knicks - Patrick Ewing, Miami - Alonzo Mourning) so expect that Shaq's demands to get the ball will be satisfied quickly and often.

The Los Angeles Times asked Derek Fisher about the Shaq's eminent departure he said, "He obviously was disappointed [losing the Finals], like all of us were. But that changed when the line was clearly drawn that it wasn't his team and it was all about Kobe and that he'll have to take a back seat. I think at that point, Shaq washed his hands of the Lakers. It's unfortunate because we've had something very special." Then Derek excused himself to drop a few tears.

There are also whispers that Karl Malone could join Shaq to make another run at a title. Shaq was the reason he went to LA with his departure Malone's not likely to stick around. Miami has about $ 7 mil in spending money, but it's not about money for Karl.. more like desperation. Michael Jordan's name has come up too. No. He won't be returning to the court. In his search for another executive position it's said he has inquired about becoming a part owner of The Heat. The team has been losing money for a hot minute. Any deal he makes will be in an ownership position, he refuses to let himself get tossed out the door Washington Wizard style.

Ving Rhames Set to Play the Black Kojak - 11:06 a.m.
Back in the 1970s when TV was something of a third thought for a kid who was more interested in GI Joes and Mouse Trap, there was Tv show called Kojak. It starred Telly Savalas (government name: Aristotle Savalas). He was a streetwise, smooth talking, pre-Michael Jordan, bald headed, Greek-American detective who went around solving the crime of the week.

Walking around with a lollipop in his mouth spitting lines like.. "Who loves u baby?" And always wearing the latest slick fashions. He had a pimp-like coolness that the hood could relate to. It's said his character was based on a Albert Seedman, an NYPD detective who was known for wearing huge gold cufflinks, etc., as well as being brilliant at solving crimes. Kojak isn't on DVD yet. There are assorted discs available overseas, but no official Season 1 package exists.
That could change with the latest news; Ving Rhames has been tapped to resurrect Kojak in a TV movie to air on the USA Network. With just about everything being remade for the big screen you'd think they would have set their sights higher. But Rhames is cool with it, as you long as you sign the check. Evidence? There is talk about a third Mission Impossible flick, in an interview Ving Rhames said.. "Hey if they want to pay me 4.5 million to sit in a van. I'll do it." The movie is set for 2005.

The Kojak TV movie will begin shooting in Canada this month. In looking for a nice little Kojak site on the web, I stumbled on a whole Savalas family website. Any, ummm... Telly Savalas fans ( mom, grandpop? ) would love to take a look at savalas.tv. You have to click around but there are pictures of old TV guide covers and autographed pics from Telly. What's amazing is how any and everything is available on this worldwide web. For more traditional info check out tellysavalas.com

John John Visit New York - 1:45 p.m.
John Kerry and his new sidekick John Edwards visit New York City this afternoon for a fund raiser at Radio City Music Hall. This comes one day after Kerry officially selected John Edwards for the vice-president slot on his campaign ticket. John Edwards was the guy I thought should have won the democratic nomination. However, people aren't too comfortable with his youthful appearance, a big reason why he didn't win. Standing next to John Kerry aka K Lurch seems to be a better position for him.

John Edwards gives the Kerry campaign some much-needed life. Have you ever seen a John Kerry rally? It's one long monotone speech that he memorized the night before. Edwards has a natural, conversational flow in his speeches. Even though during the primaries he was killing me with that Two America's speech - the one where he says his father is a mill worker - but you could tell it was from the heart. Edwards once said he wasn't running to be the vice-president, but that was before he lost the nomination. Now you take what you can get. In his wettest dream Kerry wins the election and he gets the experience people say he lacks. Two terms down the road he can try to make his way into the romper room - you know the one that Bill Clinton leaned back and did business while Monica handled hers.

It's said the republicans are afraid of running against Edwards because he has so little dirt on him. They are currently combing through his court files - he was a lawyer - to see if he said anything off the wall during his trials. They did have something ready once Kerry announced his pick. They're going with the angle that he's a youngster who's not ready for office; hardly original. Kerry said the same thing once that was when they were running against each other. When the gloves were off. In a press conference president Bush was asked what he thought about Kerry's pick and how he compares to his own VP Dick Cheney. Bush looking really beat up and tired (hard night?) said that at least Cheney could step in and be a president. A few hours later John Kerry responded during a speech of his own. He said of course Cheney could be a president and he is. He took over on the first day of office and has been running it ever since.

Political campaigns are all about who can get off the best one-liner. It's damn near comedy. If you don't have a nice soundbite that can run on the news flashes, you get lost in the mix. Kerry's been studying, he had another line too.. Yesterday during a rally (pictured above) to introduce Edwards - calling themselves the John-John ticket - Kerry comes out with this whole thing about them being for a new America and blah, blah, blah. Then he says they are better than Bush and Cheney cause they have better hair. Ha! What kind of crap is that?

Selecting Edwards allows him to say that. People are going around calling John Edwards the sexy candidate *shaking head* His youthful look, despite being 51-years-old, does makes Kerry look more stately and Presidential. And Bush's assertion that Edwards couldn't step in and be president..? This is coming from a guy who serves up bloopers every day. Has there been any other president that trips over his words and uses the most simplistic, embarrassing fifth-grade level sentences in the history of the office? John Edwards was a lawyer, could you imagine Bush stepping in his shoes and giving closing arguments. That would be straight comedy.

Saddam Says He's Still the Prez - 12:20 p.m.
Saddam Hussein had his day in court yesterday. Three days after political power was handed to the transitional Iraqi government, Saddam was called from his prison cell to proceed with the first order of business.. frying him hard and crispy.

At the beginning of the hearing he was looking at the judge like who the hell are you? Four years ago this lil punk would have gotten a foot in his ass for even looking the wrong way. Iraqis are talking real tough these days.. "I hope they deliver Saddam to me personally because executing Saddam in one day is not enough," said Sadeq Karim, 36, a labourer in Sadr City, an impoverished Shi'ite Muslim district of Baghdad that suffered under Saddam [TVNS]. Other Iraqi's are saying this is only cheap theatre. That Saddam only punished people that hurt the Iraqi people.

I can't judge Saddam Hussein, because I haven't lived in Iraq to experience life under him and his wild sons. That's why I found it just crazy that some news programs were saying this was a great day for Iraqis and Americans. I'm thinking, sure it's great for Iraqis but what does that have to do with us? Then they flash this poll that say 40+ percent of Americans believe that Saddam was responsible for 9/11. This is after Bush said Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11. His thing is that Iraq and Al-Quaeda had linked up and could possibly do so in the future. Somehow people take that to mean that he must have had his hand in 9/11.

Anyway, the most interesting thing was seeing how the media is spinning this story with crazy ass headlines such as the one pictured. Wasn't it a week ago that these same people were slamming Michael Moore for his sensationalistic, lying, and slanting of the facts. Open up the NY Post and you'll see a picture of Saddam smiling saying, "I live in every house." That's what he said when asked where he lived, but he didn't cheese for the camera. That's the kind of little detail that Moore's critics hold up to slam his film.