Photo of the Day November 21, 2008

Darrin Rich

Male
23 years old 
Chicago, Illinois

C-Murder Gets New Trial November 21, 2008

The date is set for Louisiana’s state court to start cutting through the preliminary red tape in C-Murder’s second trial.

The Associated Press reports that State Judge Martha Sassone set a January 12 hearing in the second-degree murder case of the 37-year-old rapper. Sassone who lost her bid for re-election will not be the judge at the time of the hearing. Ellen Kovach, who defeated Sassone says that she will disqualify herself from judging the case, however.

C-Murder whose real name is Corey Miller was convicted in 2003, charged with the murder of 16-year-old Steve Thomas on January 12, 2002. After a series of hearings he was granted a second trial.
If convicted in the new trial Murder can face mandatory life in prison.

The Roots Involved In Bus Crash November 21, 2008

The legendary Roots crew survived a bus crash in Paris, France yesterday (11/20). None of the group members sustained injuries. Drummer ?uestlove detailed the horrific crash in a message posted on Okayplayer.com’s news blog.

“In reality the crash was all of about 7 seconds,” the drummer wrote in an email later posted on the site. ”But to do a 360 on the highway and end up ramped up (the van that crashed into ours was under our double decker bus) in the air….is….well…a frigging miracle.”

“My first thought was not move a f*cking inch,” he continued. “I always had fear that we would fall off a cliff while in high mountain traveling like Denver or Switzerland. I couldn’t tell where gravity began and ended. I just wanted someone to calmly tell me the weight of my body was not going to push us down a mountainside. Then I wanted assurance that the bus was not going to explode.”

In related news, The Roots plan on taking time off from touring starting March 2009. The group will become Jimmy Fallon’s house band as he takes over Conan O’Brien’s “Late Night.”

Stat Quo Leaves Shady Records November 21, 2008

 

If you’re not Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, or Eminem they’re not really trying to put your album out”

When asked how many release dates he had during his time at the label, the rapper quipped, ‘That’s like sayin’ how many kids Shawn Kemp got?’

Seemingly forever Stat Quo has been plugging his unreleased albumStatlanta, even going so far as to visit publications to play the goods. But as of this week, the Atlanta rapper is not only album-less, but he’s also without a label. 

“I’m no longer down with Shady/Aftermath,” Stat Quo, who signed to the label in 2003, told Sixshot. “I wasn’t really seeing my career move at the rate that I wanted it to. I didn’t see an end in sight in terms of a release date for my album.” 

The rapper says that besides being on label projects like the Re-Up, he got no love. 

“If you’re not Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, or Eminem they’re not really trying to put your album out and I can understand that with the music business being the way it is. It was just my time to go.” 

Stat says his album was supposed to have dropped “three and a half years ago.” When asked how many release dates he had during his time at the label, the rapper quipped, “That’s like sayin’ how many kids Shawn Kemp got?” 

Stat, who is currently just releasing mixtape music now, says that he’s not bitter about the split.

“I’m not mad, I’m good. I thank [Eminem and Dr. Dre] for everything they did for me. I think that’s some ho ass shit when somebody leaves a team and then talks shit about them. That’s not my style.”

112 Member Clears Up Rumors He Stole Publishing Check November 21, 2008

 

“As recently as last week we went to court about this very topic and I was exonerated”

Last month, R&B solo artist Michael Keith came forward and dropped a bomb: he said that his former group 112 broke up because he “found out that a certain member of the group took my publishing check.” He added that he believed the culprit would soon come forward to defend himself. 

Now, Quinnes “Q” Parker is doing just that. This week, Parker spoke to Atlanta radio station V103 and said that yes, he was accused, but no, it wasn’t actually true. 

“It comes down to something very simple,” he said, “as recently as last week we went to court about this very topic and I was exonerated…I may not agree with what Mike is saying, but I respect his right to speak his mind.” 

Parker went on to say that 112 never broke up. “If 112 is broken up, its news to me,” he said. “We have been doing shows over the last year; as recent as last weekend!” 

The Atlanta-based group, formed by Sean “Diddy” Combs around 1996, was comprised of Q (real name Quinness Parker, Slim (real name Marvin Scandrick), Daron Jones, and Keith. Their biggest hit was “Cupid” off their 1996 self-titled debut album. 

ATL HOUSEWIVES FINALE SETS RECORD November 21, 2008

 

Bravo’s reality show “Real Housewives of Atlanta” wrapped up its season Tuesday night on a franchise high, reports the AP.

 

       The season-ending episode posted the best ratings to date for any telecast of the net’s “Real Housewives” franchise, rising about 50% over the previous week’s score. It stood as the No. 1 cablecast of the day among 18-49 and No. 1 on cable in primetime among adults 18-34 (1.4/4), according to Nielsen Media Research.

 

      The Atlanta cast marked Bravo’s first ever multi-racial group of socialites (four African American, one Caucasian) following the original “Real Housewives of Orange County” and its first spinoff, “Real Housewives of New York.”

 

      The Atlanta season will air its reunion show on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 9 p.m., followed by the fourth season premiere of “Real Housewives of Orange County.”

 

      In related news, Atlanta cast member NeNe Leakes spoke to People magazine about the five ways her life has changed for the better since the show has aired.

 

• “I have tons of fans who love me and come up to me everywhere I go.”

• “I’ve learned a lot of things about myself. I’m learning to be a little bit more patient. I’m learning to tone certain things down. I’m learning to be not as outspoken.”

• “My business has increased. My foundation Twisted Hearts brings awareness to domestic violence against women in the community. I have tons of people reaching out to me wanting to help me with my foundation. Had I not done the show, I would not have this platform.”

• “I have made new friends with the New York Housewives — Bethenny and Jill — and the Orange County Housewives. The one I love the most is Vicki. I’ve learned about my friendships that I’ve had throughout my life, too. There were definitely people that I needed to let out of my circle. So, I’m learning to keep my circle of friends very close.

• “I’m not surprised that Anderson Cooper is talking about me! Wouldn’t you talk about me? I’m not surprised. Anderson Cooper is gorgeous. He is THE silver fox, and I just wish he’d come over on this side of the street. And come over here and talk to me! Wendy Williams talks about me every single week. She sent messages to me. She said if she had to be any housewife it would be me. I’m not surprised. She has to change a few of her ways herself. We have a lot of celebrity people reaching out to us.”

ARSENIO, PEREZ IN ANIMATED ‘COLOR CITY’ November 21, 2008

 

Arsenio Hall and Rosie Perez will join Craig Ferguson and Christina Ricci for the CG-animated feature “The Hero of Color City,” directed by Becky Bristow.

 

       The actors will lend voices as a group of crayons battling to save their multihued city, reports Variety.  The film’s producer, Exodus Film Group, has also made a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish a series of children’s books based on the film.       

      Hall has previously voiced characters in the animated “The Proud Family Movie,” “Igor” and “Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!”

 

      Perez’s animated credits include “Lolo’s Café,” “The Road to El Dorado” and “Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child.”

BILL CLINTON TO RAISE MONEY FOR MLK MEMORIAL November 21, 2008

 

Organizers of the forthcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial say former President Bill Clinton will help raise funds to complete the project planned for the National Mall.      

       Clinton will be presented the foundation’s “Humanitarian Award” and serve as keynote speaker for a Jan. 8 dinner in Miami to help raise money for the project. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will sponsor the dinner, reports the Associated Press.      

       The memorial foundation has raised $100 million of the $120 million needed to complete the project. The memorial, planned for the banks of the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, would be the first major tribute to a black leader on the National Mall.

NAOMI CAMPBELL PHOTO EXHIBIT ON DECK November 21, 2008

 

Naomi Campbell is the subject of a new exhibit in Miami that features her image in more than 50 photographs and illustrations from the world’s top photographers, such as Arthur Elgort, Albert Watson and Steven Meisel.      

      The retrospective is part of a larger exhibit called In Fashion Photo, which will display an additional 250 photographs at the Art Photo Expo Miami from Dec. 2-7. The images presented will also be for sale.

 

       “I love my job,” Campbell told the Associated Press while promoting the display. “I have had a great, great career. I am not doing this retrospective because I am over.      

       Organizer Francois Trabelsi said he chose Campbell for the retrospective because “she’s the biggest top model of the world.”      

       “All big photographers of the world make some photographs or did something with her,” he said.

OBAMA TALK DOMINATES NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS November 21, 2008

 

The actual awards bestowed at the recent 59th annual National Book Awards ceremony in New York seemed to take a back seat to what became a huge love fest for the incoming 44th U.S. president, Barack Obama.

 

      According to the Associated Press, many of Wednesday night’s presenters and award recipients took time out to mention the historic election and to express hope of a transformed nation under an Obama presidency.

 

       “It’s a good time to be alive,” said fiction committee chair Gail Godwin, referring to Obama’s election before revealing that Peter Matthiessen had won for “Shadow Country,” a thorough revision of a trilogy of novels released in the 1990s.      

       Obama is a friend to book people in so many ways: as a fellow liberal and the first black president-elect; as the author of two million-selling books; as a public thinker who has boosted sales for Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Abraham Lincoln biography, “Team of Rivals,” and for a work about the first 100 days of Franklin Roosevelt’s administration, Jonathan Alter’s “The Defining Moment.”      

       Awards host Eric Bogosian called Obama, “in the broadest sense of the word, a reader.” Noting that the president-elect has been openly influenced by “Team of Rivals,” Bogosian commented, “That’s just so cool.”      

       Honorary award winner Maxine Hong Kingston, who, like Obama, spent many years in Hawaii, praised his way of “putting things right by talking them through.” Fellow honorary winner Barney Rosset, the publisher and First Amendment agitator, called Obama “a dynamic leader,” a miracle.      

       “For the first time in recent memory I am not thinking of renouncing my American passport,” declared the 86-year-old Rosset.      

       Nonfiction winner, Annette Gordon-Reed (for “The Hemingses of Monticello”), also mentioned Obama in her acceptance speech, as did poetry winner Mark Doty (“Fire to Fire”), who cited the election and his recent marriage to his male partner: “We are on a path to equality for all Americans and nothing is going to turn us back.”      

       The awards, founded in 1950, are sponsored by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization that offers numerous educational and literary programs. Winners each received $10,000.