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This is the new official Pittsburgh Squeeler jersey.. The pink color is same bright color as a squeeler.. aka pig
Armond White: Precious is the Most damaging Film to the Black Image Since ‘Birth of a Nation’
November 19, 2009 By
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Pride & Precious
You can thank media titans Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry for much of the hype surrounding Lee Daniels’ film Precious. ARMOND WHITE calls it the ‘Con Job of the Year.’
By Armond White
http://www.nypress.com/article-20554-pride-precious.html
Armond White
SHAME ON TYLER PERRY and Oprah Winfrey for signing on as air-quote executive producers of Precious. After this post-hip-hop freak show wowed Sundance last January, it now slouches toward Oscar ratification thanks to its powerful friends.Winfrey and Perry had no hand in the actual production of Precious, yet the movie must have touched some sore spot in their demagogue psyches. They’ve piggybacked their reps as black success stories hoping to camouflage Precious’ con job—even though it’s more scandalous than their own upliftment trade. Perry and Winfrey naively treat Precious’ exhibition of ghetto tragedy and female disempowerment as if it were raw truth. It helps contrast and highlight their achievements as black American paradigms—self-respect be damned.
Let’s scrutinize their endorsement: Precious isn’t simply a strivers’ message movie; Perry and Winfrey recognize its propaganda value. The story of an overweight black teenage girl who is repeatedly raped and impregnated by her father, molested and beaten by her mother comes from a 1990s identity-politics novel by a poet named Sapphire. It piles on self pity and recrimination consistent with the air-quotes’ own oft-recounted backstories. Promoting this movie isn’t just a way for Perry and Winfrey to aggrandize themselves, it helps convert their private agendas into heavily hyped social preoccupation.
But Perry and Winfrey aren’t all that keep Precious from sinking into the ghetto of oblivion like such dull, bourgie, black-themed movies as The Great Debaters or The Pursuit of Happyness. That’s because the film’s writer-director Lee Daniels works the salacious side of the black strivers’ street. Daniels knows how to turn a racist trick. As producer of Monster’s Ball, Daniels symbolized Halle Berry’s ravishment as integration; Kevin Bacon titillated pedophilia in Daniels’ The Woodsman and Daniels’ directorial debut, Shadowboxing, hinted at interracial incest between stepmother and son Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr.
Winfrey, Perry and Daniels make an unholy triumvirate.They come together at some intersection of race exploitation and opportunism. These two media titans—plus one shrewd pathology pimp—use Precious to rework Booker T. Washington’s early 20th-century manifesto Up From Slavery into extreme drama for the new millennium: Up From Incest, Child Abuse,Teenage Pregnancy, Poverty and AIDS. Regardless of its narrative details about class and gender, Precious is an orgy of prurience. All the terrible, depressing (not uplifting) things that happen to 16year-old Precious recall that memorable All About Eve line, “Everything but the bloodhounds nipping at her rear-end.”
It starts with the opening scene of Precious’ Cinderella fantasy. Tarted up in a boa and gown, walking a red carpet light years away from her tenement reality, Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) sighs, “I wish I had a light-skinned boyfriend with nice hair.” Her ideal smacks of selfhatred—the colorism issue that Daniels exacerbates without exploring. He casts light-skinned actors as kind (schoolteacher Paula Patton, social worker Mariah Carey, nurse Lenny Kravitz and an actual Down syndrome child as Precious’ first-born) and dark-skinned actors as terrors. Sidibe herself is presented as an animal-like stereotype—she’s so obese her face seems bloated into a permanent pout.This is not the breakthrough Todd Solondz achieved in Palindromes where plus-size black actress Sharon Wilkins artfully represented the immensity of an outcast’s misunderstood humanity. Instead, Sidibe’s fancy-dressed daydream looks laughable; poorly photographed, its primary effect is pathetic.
Daniels employs the same questionable pathos as the family banquet scene at the start of Denzel Washington’s also condescending Antwone Fisher. This cheap ploy of tortured daydreaming uses black American deprivation for sentimentality. It sells materialist fantasy as a universal motivation—no wonder Perry and Winfrey like it. Precious embodies an unenlightening canard.That fantasy opening—depicting the girl’s Obama-like ascension—tantalizes thoughts of advancement and triumph. It ought to be satirical to undercut the norms she aspires to just as Palindromes’ misfit teens subverted MTV’s ideas of youth.
Perry and Winfrey may think Precious is serious, but Daniels is hoisting his freak flag. He gets off on degradation. Flashbacks to Precious’ rape contain a curious montage of grease, sweat, bacon and Vaseline. Later, he intercuts a shot of pig’s feet cooking on a stove with Precious being humped while her mother watches from a corner. Another misjudged scene recreates De Sica’s B&W Two Women—a half-camp trashing of motherhood that compounds the problem of cultural alienation. So does the film’s Ebonics credit sequence and the scene of Precious rotating amidst a bombardment of success icons—Martina Arroyo, MLK, Shirley Chisholm—to which she either relates or is ignorant.This incoherence should not pass for sociology.
Not since The Birth of a Nation has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as Precious. Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show. Offering racist hysteria masquerading as social sensitivity, it’s been acclaimed on the international festival circuit that usually disdains movies about black Americans as somehow inartistic and unworthy.
The hype for Precious indicates a culture-wide willingness to accept particular ethnic stereotypes as a way of maintaining status quo film values. Excellent recent films with black themes—Next Day Air, Cadillac Records, Meet Dave, Norbit, Little Man, Akeelah and the Bee, First Sunday, The Ladykillers, Marci X, Palindromes, Mr. 3000, even back to the great Beloved (also produced by Oprah)—have been ignored by the mainstream media and serious film culture while this carnival of black degradation gets celebrated. It’s a strange combination of liberal guilt and condescension.
Birth of a Nation glorified the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a panicky subculture’s solution to social change. Precious hyperbolizes the class misery of our nation’s left-behinds—not the post- Rapture reprobates of Christianity’s last-days theories, but the Obama-era unreachables—including Precious’ Benetton-esque assortment of remedial school classmates. One explanation is that Precious permits a cultural version of that 1960s political controversy “benign neglect”—its agreed-upon selection of the most pathetic racial images and social catastrophes helps to normalize the circumstances of poverty and abandon that will never change or be resolved.You can think: Precious is just how those people are (although Cops and the Jerry Springer and Maury Povich shows offer enough evidence that white folks live low, too).
Precious’ plot is so outrageous (although the New York Times Magazine touts it as “The Audacity of Precious,” a telling link to Obama’s memoir The Audacity of Hope) that its acclaim suggests an aftershock of all that Hurricane Katrina weeping and lamentation about America’s Others. This movie finally puts the deprivations of Katrina on the big screen—not as smug, political fingerpointing, nor the inconsequential way superliberals Brad Pitt and David Fincher shoehorned Katrina into Benjamin Button, but as sheer melodramatic terror. (Poor Precious endures the most brutal home life since Lillian Gish in the 1918 Broken Blossoms.)
Precious raises ghosts of ethnic fear and exoticism just like Birth of a Nation. Precious and her mother (Mo’Nique) share a Harlem hovel so stereotypical it could be a Klansman’s fantasy. It also suggests an outsider’s romantic view of the political wretchedness and despair associated with the blues. Critics willingly infer there’s black life essence in Precious’ anti-life tale. And the same high-dudgeon tsk-tsking of Hurricane Katrina commentators is also apparent in the movie’s praise. Pundits who bemoan the awful conditions that have not improved for America’s unfortunate are reminded that they are still on top.
This misreading of blues sensibility probably has something to do with the disconnect caused by hip-hop, where thuggishness and criminality romanticize black ghetto life. Director Daniels’ rotgut images of aggressive cruelty and low-life illiteracy aren’t far from gangster rap clichés.The spectacle warps how people perceive black American life— perhaps even replacing their instincts for compassion with fear and loathing.
Media hype helps pass this disdain down to the masses. Precious is meant to be enjoyed as a Lady Bountiful charity event. And look: Oprah,TV’s Lady Bountiful, joins the bandwagon. It continues her abusefetish and self-help nostrums (though the scene where Precious carries her baby past a “Spay and Neuter Your Pets” sign is sick).
Problem is, Perry,Winfrey and Daniels’ pityparty bait-and-switches our social priorities.
Personal pathology gets changed into a melodrama of celebrity-endorsed self-pity. The con artists behind Precious seize this Obama moment in which racial anxiety can be used to signify anything anybody can stretch it to mean. And Daniels needs this humorless condescension (Hollywood’s version of benign neglect) to obscure his lurid purposes.
Sadly, Mike Leigh’s emotionally exact and socially perceptive films (Secrets and Lies, All or Nothing, Happy Go Lucky) that answer contemporary miserablism with genuine social and spiritual insight have not penetrated Daniels,Winfrey, Perry’s consciousness—nor of the Oscarheads now championing Precious. They’ve also ignored Jonathan Demme’s moving treatment of the lingering personal and communal tragedy of slavery in Beloved. Both Leigh and Demme understand the spiritual challenges to despair and their richly detailed performances testify to that fact. Sidibe and Mo’Nique give two-note performances: dumb and innocent, crazy and evil. Monique’s do-rag doesn’t convey depths within herself, nor does Mariah Carey’s fright wig. Daniels’ cast lacks that uncanny mix of love and threat that makes Next Day Air so August Wilson- authentic.
Worse than Precious itself was the ordeal of watching it with an audience full of patronizing white folk at the New York Film Festival, then enduring its media hoodwink as a credible depiction of black American life. A scene such as the hippopotamus-like teenager climbing a K-2 incline of tenement stairs to present her newborn, incest-bred baby to her unhinged virago matriarch, might have been met howls of skeptical laughter at Harlem’s Magic Johnson theater. Black audiences would surely have seen the comedy in this ludicrous, overloaded situation, whereas too many white film habitués casually enjoy it for the sense of superiority—and relief—it allows them to feel. Some people like being conned.
Michael Jackson Movie ‘This is It’ is Definitely worth the price of Admission
October 28, 2009 By
Michael Jackson Movie ‘This is It’ is Definitely worth the price of Admission
by Davey D
As was the case with his death, the haters coming from places like the NY Post or so-called music critic Chuck Arnold of People Magazine, simply could not wait to find an opportunity to spit their venom on Michael Jackson the King of Pop. Lucky for us all of us got to see the movie at the exact same time as his critics, thus the negativity they spit will be overshadowed because folks who sat along side them have a vastly different opinion of the movie ‘This Is It’ and have been able to express it. How does one go to a packed theater see, people clapping and dancing in the aisle and just feeling it and then go back and write some garbage about it was ghoulish??
The first thing I tell people is go see this movie is bring your kids. Michael is incredible . Yes, its rehearsal footage, but having covered concerts for the past 20 years from U2 to Public Enemy and everyone in between, I can honestly say what you see with Michael is better than 90% of the folks have graced the stage. If you’re an artist, I strongly urge you to go see this movie, bring pen and pad, check your ego at the door and take notes so you can learn the real meaning of the word ‘ENTERTAINMENT“.
If I’m to believe the stories about Michael Jackson being a drug addict, out of shape and out of wack, unless this movie has some new special effects I never seen, than MJ puts that to rest. I want whatever it is he’s has, because he comes with a skill set very few will ever reach-and again this is just rehearsal. You can tell he’s hasn’t brought the entire package not by a long shot. MJ is off the chain.
Several things stood out We know that his staff was working his young dancers day and night. They were doing everything from ballet to spending hours perfecting complicated and grueling routines. These men and women are half MJ’s age, but when they danced together, MJ who was supposedly on drugs was not only able to keep up, he surpassed them. Just to see how he did his routines is worth the 8 bucks. To see his incredible work ethic and desire for perfection is worth the 8 bucks. Just to see how he was dedicated to bringing entertainment to his fans is reason enough for anyone who is an artist from any genre or discipline to pay the price of admission. If you’re an artist this film is required viewing.
It’s ironic that I saw the BET Hip Hop Awards just before seeing this movie. I gotta tell ya its gonna be hard to go back and see Gucci man or Souljah Boy hit the stage after seeing MJ.. It’s not so much that he spent money on his stage sets, it’s the perfection he demanded of himself and the people around him. It’s the precision in his dance moves. It’s him knowing every note and lyric to his songs. It’s him unwilling to come up short in his executions. You really come to appreciate good artistry and might find yourself getting annoyed and upset the next time you see someone do a half baked bullshit show.
What also stood out was the staging and sets he was going to unveil in concert. Wow. The way he flips Smooth Criminal, Thriller and my favorite Earth Song are breath-taking. In fact the Earth Song scene is something that President Obama and his fellow politicians who are hedging on getting a comprehensive impactful Climate Change bill, should see. Michael hits a home run with that and actually speaks to the issue in the film. He talks about the direction we are headed where we may do irreversible damage.
The film has a lot of bright moments. As I was watching it, I couldn’t help think about how Michael had saved and eventually transformed the music industry. His creativity especially when it came to videos saved the music industry. After seeing this film, I think many will use his film as a template and follow suit. Yes, we’ve had movies of band concert footage and their backstage rehearsals, but they pale in comparison to Michael Jackson. He raised the bar on this one. if the movie does well, I’m willing to bet that we will see the music industry rush to do similar films with other performers…
for those of you into conspiracy theories here’s something to consider…
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(And: How to Get Away With Fake Murder)
By: Rhiannon | MJHD Forum Moderator
Now, we know in March of 2009 Michael Jackson announced his upcoming residency at London’s O2 arena. This was an idea pitched to him initially by AEG in 2007, wanting him to kick off the “Grand Opening” of the O2. At this time Michael had still been living like a vagabond, and after little consideration he turned down the offer. His counter offer to Randy Phillips and Kenny Ortega was he would rather make movies. Movies that he “produced, directed, and starred in”… shows “like the world has never seen”. AEG, not in the market for filmmaking respectfully declined the offer and found a more than eager to oblige Prince to fill the opening dates.
Michael had long been in a self-fueled competition with Prince ever since the “Purple Rain” singer refused to record with him on the “Bad” album. Michael is the type of person who always feels that he has to one-up himself, and one-up the world in the process.
Through whatever means, Michael re-approached AEG in November of 2008 again with his movie ideas. What happened next is anybody’s guess. This only brings us to March, the 10 shows turned 50, and the ensuing media silence that followed.
The shows were set to begin in early July then pushed back a week. Taking in things as they were on June 24th, assuming the shows were legitimate and had every intention of actually happening, where was the pre-push?
Michael was set to take the stage in London in mere weeks for his “final performances” there. This is some pretty big news, right? We hear now that he had recorded a single entitled “This Is It”… why wasn’t this released to promote these shows? From a traditional standpoint there was absolutely no marketing or advertising going on for the O2 shows, at all! We know MJ wasn’t one to grant loads of TV interviews, but he was definitely a marketing genius (remember the statue floating down the Thames?) only here on the cusp of his career comeback and professional vindication… there is NOTHING?! TV he may have stayed shy from, but he did do magazines, he always seemed to have some kind of “making-of” or “preview” leaked before whatever his next big thing was… but for This Is It we saw nothing.
Or did we? …Hang on.
So now, we find ourselves in the present, less than a month away from the opening of the rapidly produced “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” in theaters worldwide. And what do we have now? There are a few radio spots, a random TV commercial, you may have even seen a banner or poster. This is all totally normal for a movie. Nothing to see here. Right?
Wrong. In promoting a film of this magnitude (let’s just say this will be the movie everyone remembers from 2009… unless you live under a rock) it would be especially commonplace to have a media circuit push in effect. At this point, it would be the final push.
What you should see is Kenny Ortega, some of the dancers, anyone associated with the film promoting it by going on Letterman, Today, GMA, and giving quick 5-minute sit downs about the movie. And trust me folks, it’s not like they’ve not been contacted to do these. So why in the world would they turn down free publicity? Why don’t they want to talk about Michael’s vision and L.O.V.E., etc? Are they hiding something?
Meanwhile, the internet is hot with people talking, “buzz-bombing” is a term used sometimes for people planted by the company in question to litter sites and networks with information and keep the chatter going. A common marketing phrase states, “There is no better advertising than word of mouth.”
So, that all said, let’s imagine the “what-ifs”.
The only major media talk surrounding the O2 shows in the weeks before they were set to happen were tethered to how Michael had just tragically and suddenly “passed-away”. Then, how kindly, AEG volunteered the Staples center out to the Jackson family to have Michael’s public memorial, being as how they still had it rented out for rehearsals.
Wait… rehearsals for the show, on July 7th? That’s cutting it dangerously close considering Michael had to move to the UK, the set had to be moved, the dancers had to move, and they’re all expecting us to believe this could be done in a week? What seems more likely is they had a rental agreement still in place for the Staples Center through July 7th because the Memorial was a part of the plan all along.
Remember how Michael came around to AEG in November wanting to do movies? What’s more foolish to believe, Michael was really going to do 50 shows in London like nothing… or that he said, “Ok, guys, here’s what I want to do… this might sound crazy but I’ve got it all planned out… this is my vision, you will make serious coin, and I get my public vindication and professional dignity restored.” To say the latter is not possible is to sorely underestimate the genius that IS Michael Jackson.
AEG seeing an opportunity to make money hand over fist and be apart of the largest publicity stunt in history gladly signs on. Michael then brings back his “dream team”, John Branca, Frank DiLeo, Karen Faye, even Kenny himself was around in the glory days.
The story of his “death” is believable because to the general unassuming public Michael was “odd” and most were aware he had issues dealing with prescription vices on and off for many years. It’s easy to pin the tail on the donkey, Conrad Murray, because no one… still to this day… is entirely certain who he truly is, if he exists, and what his story is. And shockingly, over three months have passed and we’re no closer to wrapping up the “investigation” than we were on June 25th.
So, how can this be? Wouldn’t the officials involved risk professional demise once this is out? Not necessarily, remember in Los Angeles, it’s not exactly difficult to obtain a filming/location permit or work out an agreement with hospital, coroner, and law enforcement higher-ups. And to keep it quiet, all you need is one person in charge at each place to delegate information to his employees on a need-to-know basis. They could be just as in the dark as we are! Hence why the investigation is so flawed. Hence why Chief Bratton is retiring in about 4 weeks. For the hospital and coroner, you’ll notice you still don’t have any conclusive concrete, beyond shadow of a doubt, proof that they have been fraudulent. In fact, Jermaine made the statement at UCLA, and after the announcement of an autopsy pending and the subsequent “security hold” on the findings, we have nothing official from them either. All of the news people assume as factual has been leaked from sources “close to” or “involved with” the case.
Meanwhile, none of the insurance policies have been cashed in by Michael’s estate or AEG. Some people mistakenly thought one had been, when actually all that happened was a judge granting Branca and McClain permission to use funds from the estate to produce TII and give Katherine and the kids some allowance money. And also, nothing official was ever decided about custody of the three kids… again, many people think this is wrong that Katherine was granted permanent and sole custody, but she still only has temporary guardianship.
And until anyone can see the original death certificate with their own eyes, you honestly can’t prove that it is real either.
Point being, with the right amount of money and the proper legal planning (confidentiality, non-disclosures, gag orders, etc.) Michael Jackson hoaxing his death wouldn’t be all that difficult.
Meanwhile, what we have is a two-week engagement in theaters (anyone else find that confusing?), teasers leaked to the public only *after* June 25th: demo clip, rehearsal footage, pictures, now a new single just in time for the movie… that has the entire world watching. Michael’s catalogue can’t hardly be kept in stock anywhere, and his debts are being cleared a little faster than anyone presumed. Leaving everyone without a loss on their investments. So will he come back in the movie? Before it? After? At all?
Well, I mean, they say This Is It, right? …So if he’s not coming back soon then that can only mean This Is NOT It. So which is it… Is This It, or Isn’t It?
By the way, has anyone heard from the children recently? Odd that they were in the house the day their father was potentially “murdered” and they haven’t been interviewed by authorities at all
Before there was Madea w/ Tyler Perry, There was Geraldine w/ Flip Wilson-How Many of Y’all Remember?
October 27, 2009 By
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I like Tyler Perry and his character Madea. He/ she does have her funny moments.. However, before there was Madea there was Geraldine played by comedian Flip Wilson. A lot of folks have forgotten about Flip.. he was eons ahead of his time..Geraldine was before Jamie Foxx, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy and any other comedian that has made a mark playing a woman.
I loved the way his character Geraldine would talk about fictional boyfriend ‘Killer’.. I also loved the way Geraldine would interact with the guests..
Below is a classic clip where Geraldine engages heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali. We must not forget our history..
Another classic skit is Flip Wilson engaging the Jackson 5
Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner
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Hip Hop Chess Tourney Kicks Off in SF This Weekend
October 6, 2009 By
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Hip-Hop Chess Federation Adds “All Queens” Panel to West Coast Kings
& Queens Tournament
Rappers, Scholars and Artists Gather to Inspire SF Youth
Sept. 22nd 2009, San Francisco, CA- The Hip-Hop Chess Federation is
proud to announce the West Coast Kings & Queens Tournament. The
Hip-Hop Chess Federation is the world’s first organization to fuse
music, chess and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and
non-violence. There will be a traditional rated chess tournament,
people can learn chess basics, watch graffiti art battles, b-boy
ciphers, celebrity chess matches, martial arts exhibitions, prize
giveaways and more! It all takes place Oct. 10th 2009 at John
O’Connell High School from 9AM to 6PM at 2355 Folsom St. @ 19th in San
Francisco, Ca. ADMISSION IS FREE FOR ALL AGES.
Celebrity guests inculde Rakaa Iriscience from Dilated Peoples, rap
legend Ray Luv, Traxamillion, Casual from Hieroglyphics, Balance and
Big Rich, Conscious Daughters, T-KASH, DLabrie and others to be
announced. The event will be DJ’ed by KMEL Street Soldiers DJ Malcolm
Marshall. There will also be a special All Queens Life Strategies
Panel where Birth of the Chess Queen author Marilyn Yalom, Conscious
Daughters, rapper Melina Jones and Jean Hoffman of 9 Queens will
discuss how young girls can step forward with positivity and
confidence into the future.
“It was time for the HHCF to do something specifically to celebrate
the power and impact of the artists from the west coast,” said HHCF
founder and CEO Adisa Banjoko. “We always provide safe, family
friendly environments for people to discover their true potential in
life and have fun. So many young girls out there love the game of
chess. We wanted to set something up just to celebrate the queens. We
wanted to give these girls direct access to women of knowledge and
strength, in hopes that these young ladies will follow their lead.”
“We are enthusiastic and grateful to all the celebrities, kids and
educators coming together for the Kings & Queens Tournament,” said
Banjoko. “This organization has been hurt badly by the failing
economy. Yet by forging strong strategic alliances we’re still pushing
ahead. These are tough times for many of America’s youth. Nevertheless
the HHCF remains unflinching in our goal to share the countless
educational and artistic life options for them in this world. We are
grateful for all the rappers, chess masters and martial artists who
have donated their time to teaching kids healthy alternatives to
violence on the streets. Since our explosive beginning there have been
many imitations, but there is only one Hip-Hop Chess Federation! See
you all there.”
All who wish to compete in the Kings & Queens Tournament can sign up
today at:http://www.bayareachess.com
Partners for the West Coast Kings & Queens Tournament are Bay Area
Chess and WuChess.com. Other sponsors include JW Foundation, 9 Queens,
www.thechesspiece.com, www.thechessdrum.net, 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu SF,
www.mikerelm.com.com, Heroes Martial Arts and Upper Playground. For
more information on how to participate visit
www.hiphopchess.blogspot.com
WATCH KINGS & QUEENS VIDEO:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xadbnk_hiphop-chess-w-rakaa-traxamillion-t_lifestyle
Media Contact | Meko Gaborski (323) 335-4497
gaborski@shinkenpublicrelations.com
Pittsburgh Troy Polamalu Steps Up and Sets a Good Example for Other Pro-Athletes
October 4, 2009 By
Troy Polamalu sets a perfect example for other pro athletes to follow
Major props have to go out to Troy Polamalu.. As Paradise of X-Clan pointed out this all pro Pittsburgh Steeler personifies the type of off the field behavior for all athletes to follow. This brother stands firm for a number of causes. Most notable is the behind the scenes work he does with the homeless.
Many people don’t know, but Polamalu is well known amongst Pittsburgh’s homeless because he shows up to freeway underpasses and other spots where homeless people live and he brings them food, clothing. He buys them groceries and looks out for folks. It’s a thing that many in the media knew little about-which is a testament to Polamalu because he wasn’t trying to be some media hero.
It was during the G20 summit when the homeless were being forcibly moved that Paradise Gray and Jasiri X ran into Polamalu who was visibly upset when he learned how the homeless was being treated. He was doing all that he could do to help them out..
Hence Polamalu helping out his people in a devastated Somoa should be of no surprise. This is what he does and because of his heroism we salute him and hold him up as a shining example for all to follow..
-Davey D-
Gorman: Polamalu pauses for Samoan cause
by Kevin Gorman
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/columnists/s_646356.html
Troy Polamalu has developed a cult following here and throughout the NFL for his long, curly locks and Tasmanian Devil-style of play. It shouldn’t have taken a natural disaster in his homeland for us to ask about Polamalu’s bond with his Samoan heritage.
Not until the 8.0-magnitude earthquake and three ensuing tsunami tidal waves that killed 168 people in the South Pacific this past week did we bother to explore the background of the superstar safety, already one of the Steelers’ all-time greats. For once, we should not worry about the status of his injured left knee and treat Polamalu as a person instead of a cartoon hero.
Polamalu was born in California and raised in Oregon, but comes from American Samoa descent and a traditional Samoan upbringing. He speaks softly, but Polamalu wants the world to know he’s willing to raise his voice and lend his name to a cause close to both his heart and heritage.
“It’s different in the sense that, we had a tragedy here with Hurricane Katrina, but this is islands in the South Pacific. It’s not as Westernized. Help is not immediate. In that case, it’s scary,” Polamalu said. “I don’t know how outspoken you can be and be heard, and who would really care. It depends. We’re not dealing with Texas or Louisiana. We’re dealing with American Samoa, which is a protected territory of the United States. I mean, western Samoa, America couldn’t care less about — but I would probably say the majority of the (Polynesian) NFL players are from there.”
Six NFL defensive linemen are from American Samoa (pop. 66,000) alone, but there are 30-plus NFL players with family ties to the South Pacific. The Steelers have two in left guard Chris Kemoeatu, a Tongan raised in Hawaii, and Polamalu, who would like to see Samoa recognized as something other than a breeding ground for future NFL players.
“Honestly,” Polamalu said, “I think the NFL should get involved. Most importantly, hopefully, the United States government will get involved.”
The voice of Polynesian players past and present has already been heard. The NFL organized a conference call Friday with FEMA and the Red Cross, at the request of retirees Jack Thompson and Vai Sikahema, to keep players updated and to assess what to do charitably. It’s a sign of the impact pro athletes can have in using their influence to make a difference.
“We have to go down there and help rally the troops and rally the people,” Sikahema said, “because they so highly regard their players who come and have made a name for themselves in the NFL.”
None is regarded as highly as Polamalu, among the league’s most identifiable stars for wearing his hair long in the Samoan tradition. What’s sad is that we don’t much more about a man who is so deep spiritually and culturally. Polamalu’s family is from Ta’u, one of five volcanic islands in the American Samoa and a place he describes as one where people live in huts and off the land. The damage is more severe in developed isles like Tutuila, where capital city Pago Pago was under water.
Miami Dolphins nose tackle Paul Soliai had an aunt and uncle die in the tsunami and has other relatives unaccounted for and Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Jonathan Fanene lost some cousins, so Polamalu knows how fortunate he is that his family still living there survived.
“Thank God my family is safe, but the Samoan community is a little different in the sense that it’s really small and really family-oriented,” Polamalu said. “Even friends are considered family, and a lot of my friends and their immediate relatives have not been found yet.”
While Polamalu wasn’t born in the Samoan islands and plans to defer charitable leadership to those who were, he wants to use his platform and lend his presence as part of the Samoan concept of fa’a lavelave.
Polamalu understands the clash of cultures between the Samoan way and the Westernized world, and knows that throwing money at the disaster won’t solve the crisis. Samoans are Aboriginal, live in villages and follow a chiefly system, where livestock can be considered more valuable than money.
Under fa’a lavelave, everybody contributes.
For the love of the game and Polynesians like Polamalu who play it with such passion, it’s time we put our fa’a lavelave in and show some support.
Remembering Mr Magic (RIP)-Hip Hop Loses It’s Frankie Crocker
October 2, 2009 By
Remembering Mr Magic-Hip Hop Loses It’s Frankie Crocker
by Davey D and Mark Skillz
Today just getting word that one of our Hip Hop pioneers has passed. As I started writing this we’re still trying to officially confirm, but according to what DJ Premier twitted earlier Mr Magic who was best known as being among the first to have a Hip Hop show on a major radio station has passed. Still trying to process all this, because we’ve lost so many people this year. It was just a week or so ago we were mourning the passing of DJ Roc Raida. For us in the Bay Area we lost a longtime KPFA radio colleague and well known activist Gina Hotta. She passed of a heart attack. What we’re hearing w/ Mr Magic he too passed of a heart attack. He was 55 years old.
If you were around in the late 70s/early 80s then you will clearly understand what Magic meant to Hip Hop. For years he was the pinnacle. When he started out on WHBI, just hearing his show was major. It was a really big deal, because what we were doing in the parks, at rec centers and in our living rooms was insulated. No one else in the world knew what was bubbling up in the Bronx. When Magic got picked up and was added to the line up of commercial station WBLS.. It was major. One of our own had graduated and was on the big stage. Saturday night was what so many of us eagerly looked foward to…Mr Magic with his booming voice gave Hip Hop that importance. He had what they call gravitas. He made you and Hip Hop official. He was a radio announcer not a kid doing college radio. He wasn’t someone shouting into a microphone. He was our Frankie Crocker, who was the legendary DJ and at the time program director for WBLS.
Was just talking to Hip Hop historian and writer Mark Skillz who also grew up on Magic and he noted that Magic laid the ground work for every on air personality that came from the streets and made it to radio. He was always classy even when he was arrogant and he could sure be arrogant at times. He was older than the average listener and fan of rap at that time and could’ve easily been associated with disco or soul music. But he put everything on the line because he really believed in the music. On a couple of occasions he was fired. The most infamous occasion was when he stood up to Frankie Crockerwho as mentioned was a legend in his on right. Crocker wanted to change formats and take rap off the air. Magic stood up to him and refused to change his show and was fired resulting in him returning to his first station WHBI. Skillz added that its important to understand that back then and even recently, people paid to have a show on WHBI. You had to raise money to have a slot on the air.
Magic was important to two different eras of Hip Hop. He was the connection to the pioneering day also known as True School. He was the one that brought us Flash, Mele-Mel, Crash Crew, Sugar Hill, Busy Bee etc. he later became the important gateway to the what we now know as the Golden Era. He was once dubbed Sir Juice as he was the big connection and champion for the Juice Crew. Skill z was sharing memories with Sweet Gee this morning upon hearing the news and was reminded by G that the original Juice Crew was Sal Abbatiello, Sweet Gee, DJ June Bug, Kurtis Blow and Mr Magic aka Sir Juice.Sal who owned the Fever night club brought them all diamond rings. In many ways for long before Diddy, Jay-Z or the Jiggy era came along, Magic and his people personified flashiness within Hip Hop. They were smooth and represented the style of the day.
Skillz was recounting seeing Magic wearing rings on every finger and having gold rope chains. He used to sport a shark skin suit. He was a Hip Hop version of Mr Tee. Back then that was Hip Hop at its finest for better or for worse.
When he got his Rap Attack show on WBLS he was the man. Folks old enough will recall what it meant to record a Mr Magic show. Those cassette tapes got passed all around the world. He was that dude. Interestingly enough Magic followed the important tradition long established by Black radio DJs of being our mouthpiece and Griot of sorts. In many ways he was the face of Hip Hop and our ambassador. He was our connection to the outside world, the corporate world etc. When his show came on, all of New York stopped what they were doing and tuned in. Words are simply inadequate so others reading this will have to add in.
We also recall the role that Magic played in sparking the infamous bridge wars between the Bronx via KRS and BDP and Queens via the Juice Crew. Magic was so important that if he didn’t play your record or publicly rejected you as he did BDP, it wasn’t a thing to easily shake off. I won’t get into along recounting of that tale, but lets just say a lot of careers were born through the BDP vs Juice Crew saga. The attention he garnered help heighten the position of than rival DJ Red Alert who was holding it down and backing BDP on Kiss FM while Magic backed Marley Marlwho was his official deejay along with the Juice Crew as we know them today on WBLS…Also on a side note lets stress the fact that the battle was more like a battle of the bands and not the type of vicious beefs where folks get shot or beaten up. It was competitive, theatrical and capitivating
We also need to remember as Paradise of X-Clan pointed out Mr Magic also gave Whodini their first break .Jalil used to answer the phones to his show. Hence the group’s first song ‘Mr Magic’s Magic Wand.
So many memories its hard to really do justice. .. For those who remember Mr Magic please share.
In closing I’d be wrong not to point out the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I’m talking healthcare. I’m not sure what Magic’s finances or personal situation was, but dying of a heart attack while in your 50s is not a good look and should be a wake up call for us all on a number of levels. One one level is for us to seriously look at how we’re living. Stress and strife are taking its toll. Stress from finances, stress from work, stress from living in dangerous situations silently and suddenly do us in. On another level, many of us have not taken care of ourselves with routine check ups and visits to the doctor to help us avoid such tragedies. We shouldn’t forget as Skillz points out that it was only a few years ago that Magic’s DJ Marley Marl had a heart attack. We also lost Professor Xwho was also around the same age through meningitis. Was it lack of health insurance or bad and fast living? I can’t call it, but all of us need to sit back and ask why we have lost so many people at young ages this year. It hasn’t been shootings its been failing health..
Hip Hop pioneer Kurtis Blow reminded us that Mr Magic put a record Its a rare gem and it has him rapping. Its called “Its a Better Way’
RIP Mr Magic
Something to Ponder
-Davey D-
Michael Jordan Gets Bitter During Acceptance Speech
September 14, 2009 By
Like Mike: To be or not to be
by Bruce Banter of Playahata.com
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There was once a commercial that ran on all of the TV stations encouraging children to “Be Like Mike”, in other words make MJ your role model. I balked at that reference cause I was aware of Jordan’s apolitical public posturing. For example his refusal to support Harvey Gantt over a racist like Senator Jesse Helms in the North Carolina Senate race. Jordan said “Republicans buy Nikes too” (yuck).
Gantt (twice) against Jesse Helms, sought the endorsment of former UNC star Michael Jordan to no avail. Jordan was rumored to have endorsed Gantt after Helms died. I also never got over MJ’s comment that he doesn’t live in Los Angeles when asked about the awful Rodney King beating and ensuing riots but I got some of that Jim Brown in me.Now I am not saying all great athletes have to be like Muhamad Ali but I am saying that total silence is a weak route to take to maintain popularity.
Anyway the talk that Jordan is a bitter man resurfaced yesterday as he was inducted into the half of fame. We learned bitterness motivated him on the court and drove him to be the phenomenal player he was on the court. Many said he is still bitter and petty,those journalist used the press conference as proof that he is and others just ignored what happened and highlighted the good stuff they heard. You have two links that discuss his farewell speech at the Basketball Hall of Fame. Click on both and make a choice about what is more real to you.
Link 1 http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-jordanhall091209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
-Bruce Banter
P.S. Hey Mike, Harvey Gantt doesn’t want the endorsement now-LOL.
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — When it’s your party, you can cry if you want to, and you also can embarrass yourself if you want to. Just ask Michael Jordan, who spent his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night doing his version of dancing naked on a coffee table with a lamp shade on his head.
What was that?
Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. It rivaled anything you can name through the decades as the most brutal Hall of Fame acceptance speech ever. Soon after receiving a standing ovation of 73 seconds from a packed and adoring house at Springfield Symphony Hall, he went from sobbing to reflective to vicious.
I mean, where is Sandman (you know, that guy who yanks terrible acts off the stage at the Apollo Theatre) when you need him?
It was this brutal Friday night: Anybody who bothered Jordan mentally, physically or spiritually in hoops during his 46 years was assassinated with his tongue. The coach who cut him from his high school team in Wilmington, N.C. Buzz Peterson, who was named high school player of the year in North Carolina over Jordan. His archenemy with the Chicago Bulls, Jerry Krause. Several NBA coaches who worked for his teams and against his teams. Doubting media types. Opposing players Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, George Gervin, John Starks and Byron Russell.
Oh, and Jordan even gave a gentle whack to the knees to Dean Smith. According to Jordan, he still is miffed that his former head coach at North Carolina told Sports Illustrated in 1981 to go with four Tar Heel starters on its cover instead five, which would have included the freshman Jordan.
If that wasn’t enough, Jordan looked at his two sons and daughter, shrugged and then said, “You guys have a heavy burden. I wouldn’t want to be you guys.”
Nice touch, Michael. So was this: With youngsters watching back home during this prime time telecast, Jordan turned to David Thompson nearby and said, “I know I shocked the (bleep) out of you.” He was referring to Thompson’s likely reaction after he received Jordan’s call to be his presenter for the event. Thompson is a fabled alumnus of North Carolina rival North Carolina State.
Tomasson: David Thompson Talks About Presenting MJ
In other words, it was a blessing that those who decide such things blew it this time. Jordan’s meltdown aside, they needed one ceremony for the only person that folks really cared about among this year’s class, and they needed another for those deserving but thoroughly misplaced inductees not named Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
I mean, what were those who run the Hall of Fame thinking?
They weren’t. Well, unless they were omniscient enough to see Jordan racing in his Air Jordans toward that lamp shade.
MCT
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Michael Jordan, alongside David Thompson, is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, Friday, September 11, 2009. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
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Latest NBA Photos
Michael Jordan, alongside David Thompson, is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, Friday, September 11, 2009. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
MCT
Chicago Tribune
Latest NBA Images
- Michael Jordan, alongside David Thompson, is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, Friday, September 11, 2009. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
MCT
Michael Jordan, alongside David Thompson, is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, Friday, September 11, 2009. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
MCT
Michael Jordan, alongside David Thompson, is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, Friday, September 11, 2009. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
MCT
SPRINGFIELD, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: Coach Larry Brown and Hall of Fame player George Gervin present David Robinson to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame during an induction ceremony on September 11, 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Larry Brown;George Gervin;David Robinson
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SPRINGFIELD, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: Isiah Thomas presents John Stockton to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame during an induction ceremony on September 11, 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Isiah Thomas;John Stockton
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SPRINGFIELD, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: David Thompson leads to his seat after Michael Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame during a ceremony on September 11, 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** David Thompson;Michael Jordan
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SPRINGFIELD, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: Michael Jordan stands with other members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 11, 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Jordan
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SPRINGFIELD, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: Michael Jordan is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame during a ceremony on September 11, 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Jordan
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SPRINGFIELD, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: David Robinson is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 11, 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** David Robinson
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Michael Jordan arrives with Yvette Prieto for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Symphony Hall in Springfield Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, Friday, September 11, 2009. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
MCT
That said, you can’t turn Jordan into a basketball immortal with others, no matter who they are or what their qualifications. It also doesn’t matter that such a move of designating Jordan as a solo induction act would be unprecedented. He is peerless, and come to think of it, they sort of understood as much around here.
You could tell by the way they decided to have John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan and Vivian Stringer arrive for the evening festivities one by one — long before Jordan’s considerable entourage. Those others had two motorcycle policemen leading their shiny Rolls Royces to the red carpet that stretched from the edge of Court Street to the aged steps of the hall. Then, as the largest crowd in the 50-year history of this event roared in the distance, Jordan arrived with four motorcycle policemen and a couple of more cops next to his antique car on bicycles.
They applauded the others. They roared for Jordan.
To say this was awful timing for those others to join the elite of the hoops elite with Jordan is to say the man of the moment fired the only blatant air ball of his life earlier in the day. That’s when a considerably more humble Jordan stood at a podium inside of the Hall of Fame’s center court, studied those across the way with only thoughts of impossible dunks, Craig Ehlo and an eternally wagging tongue on their minds and said with a straight face, “Contrary to what you guys believe, it’s not just me going into the Hall of Fame. It’s a group that I’m proud to be a part of, and believe me, I’m going to remember them as much as they remember me.”
Doubtful. Still, there are many things to remember about those others, ranging from their accomplishments on the court to their speeches on Friday. While dribbling down the stretch of his talk, a highly emotional Robinson implored everybody to have God walk with them “they way He walked with me.” Then came Stockton, who left his typically stoic ways to choke on his words when discussing his deceased mother.
Later, Stringer spoke about how we all go “through our trials and tribulations” while referring to the tragic death of her husband and her battle with cancer. Then Sloan gave a sometimes funny and often poignant review of his life that would have ended 32 years ago had he taken a head coaching job at Evansville, his alma mater. Months after he turned it down, the team plane crashed and killed everybody on board.
Jordan was last to take the stage.
Oh, boy.
At one point near the beginning of Jordan’s speech of 21 minutes and 30 seconds, he asked those listening, “What is it about me that you don’t know?” He proceeded to give us the answer in detail — unfortunately.
Jackson’s Death Ruled as a Homicide
August 25, 2009 By
This is such a sad story all the way around and even with this assertion form LAPD, its still mired in controversy. For starters we have a guy, Michael Jackson who had a serious drug addiction. His money and fame allowed him to continue getting drugs in spite of interventions from family and friends. Jackson is not unique in having addictions, he’s just more well known and richer then most. What have we as a society done to deal with this problem? It goes above and beyond MJ.
Next we have a police department that seems eager to make a name for itself. What better way then to verociously after the folks responsible for administering drugs to Jackson. Now by no means am I suggesting that Conrad Murray or anyone else should be let off the hook. If they gave Jackson drugs then they should go to jail if that’s what caused his death. In the case of Murray whats being reported is unbelievable. He made bunch of phone calls, didn’t tell the EMR folks he gave him propophol. The whole thing stinks.
My concern is that this is a problem of epidemic proportions especially throughout Hollywood. Why wait till now? Why haven’t we seen this ‘stellar’ police work when we saw other stars dealing with drug addictions? Why haven’t we seen LAPD dedicating themselves to shutting down the network of doctors who illegally administer drugs? Is this about putting a dent in a problem or making a name off the King of Pop?
-Davey D-
MICHAEL JACKSON DEATH RULED A HOMICIDE: Coroner finds lethal doses of propofol in singer’s body during autopsy.
http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur55577.cfm
Police say that Michael Jackson's death was a homicide
L.A. County coroner’s officials found lethal levels of the powerful anesthetic propofol after examining Michael Jackson’sbody, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed today in Houston, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The search warrant states that Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, told Los Angeles Police Department detectives that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for about six weeks. He had been giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol every night using an intravenous line, according to the court records.
But Murray told detectives he felt Jackson was becoming addicted to the substance and began trying to wean the pop star off the drugs. He lowered the dosage to 25 milligrams and mixed it with two other sedatives, lorazepam and midazolam. On June 23, two days before Jackson’s death, he administered those two medications and withheld the propofol.
The arrest of Dr Conrad Murray may soon happen although he and his lawyers are maintaining his innocence
On the morning Jackson died, Murray tried to induce sleep without using propofol, according to the affidavit. He said he gave Jackson valium at 1:30 a.m. When that didn’t work, he said, he injected lorazepam intravenously at 2 a.m. At 3 a.m., when Jackson was still awake, Murray administered midazolam.
Over the next few hours, Murray said he gave Jackson various drugs. Then at 10:40 a.m., Murray administered 25 milligrams of propofol after Jackson repeatedly demanded the drug, according to the court records.
Although Murray acknowledged to police that he administered propofol, authorities said they could find no evidence that he had purchased, ordered or obtained the medication under his medical license or Drug Enforcement Administration tracking number. However, police detectives saw about eight bottles of propofol in the house along with other vials and pills that had been prescribed to Jackson by Dr. Murray, Dr. Arnold Klein andDr. Allan Metzger.
Other drugs that were confiscated in the search included valium, tamsulosin, lorazepam, temazepam, clonazepam, trazodone and tizanidine. They also found propofol in Murray’s medical bag. Murray told detectives that he was not the first doctor to administer the powerful anesthetic to Jackson.
At least two unidentified doctors gave Jackson propofol in Germany. Between March and April 2009, Murray said he called Las Vegas doctor David Adamsat Jackson’s request to arrange for Adams to administer propofol. Murray said he was present at a cosmetologist’s office, where Adams used propofol to sedate Jackson. Since he began treating Jackson, Murray said he repeatedly asked the pop star what other physicians were treating Jackson and what drugs they were prescribing. But Jackson declined to provide the information, Murray told authorities.
Starbucks Set to Start Swagger jacking Local Coffee Houses by removing Its Name
July 17, 2009 By
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Should we call it good business savvy where one is being smart and competitive or should we call it being deceptive, thievery or outright ‘swagger jacking’ ? In case you haven’t heard in recent months Starbucks has been closing coffee houses all over the country. In this bad recession many people don’t wanna pay 4 bucks for a cup of coffee with names they can’t pronounce. The other story which Starbucks has not been telling folks is that many places, people hate walking into a store that’s not local. In many communities people have been opting to go to the mom and pop/ indy coffee house where they will allow you do poetry readings, give you free wi-fi and basically be a ‘real’ neighborhood hangout. Starbucks in spite of its nice ambiance has become simply too Clear Channelish for people’s tastes and hence folks started to bounce in droves.
So how has the coffee giant responded? First it closed a bunch of stores and blamed it on the recession. Next they did some market research and are now undergoing a sneaky makeover. They are now experimenting by opening coffee houses without the Starbucks name or their green and white logo. They are trying to blend in and make people think they are some small, quaint, corky indy coffee house owned by local people. In Seattle, Starbucks swagger jacked damn near everything a local coffee house was doing down to the color of paint. Who is next? Will the Starbucks in the hood sudeenly start sporting a Red, Black and Green flag toss up a couple of Malacolm X or Marcus Garvey photos and make folks think its Black owned? Oh yeah I forgot a whole lot of businesses on 125th street in Harlem do that now..lol, but lemme not digress.
Will Starbucks suddenly adapt Southwestern decor and toss a Spanish sign here and there, play some Salsa, ranchero or tejano tunes and have up a Mexican, El Savadorian or Puerto Rican flag hanging out front to make us think its owned by folks in the barrio? Should we be upset by this? Haven’t we been pushing corporations to be more reflective of the community? If the communities needed are being served should we be celebrating this? Or do we want corporations to identify themselves as corporations?
Now many corporate folks are paying close attention to this latest ‘stealth marketing move by Starbucks because they know, people aren’t feeling the way corporations are doing things, so these entities are falling back and trying to hit us up by pretending to be something that we aren’t.. is this a good thing?
Time will tell and so will the people
Something to Ponder
Davey D
Can the next Starbucks makeover result in a corporate coffee shop like this without us knowing?
Neighbor: Starbucks stole my ambiance
By SARA KIESLER
SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COM
Linda Derschang, owner of Smith neighborhood pub, walks into a meeting in a Starbucks store undergoing renovation next door to her business on 15th Avenue East in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Derschang, who said she worked hard to distinguish her business with its motif, said she was furious that the Starbucks matched its look to the look of her businesses next door. The exterior of the remodeled Starbucks location is color matched to Smith's and uses reclaimed wood on the exterior, similar to the reclaimed wood Derschang uses in her business.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/408205_starbucks17.html?source=mypi
If imitation is the kindest form of flattery, the restaurant and bar known as Smith is feeling … well … flat-out worshiped.
Located next to the Starbucks store that will now be called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea in Capitol Hill, Smith owner Linda Derschang said Thursday that everything from the paint color to the light fixtures inside the coffee shop have been replicated to match her rustic, mountaineer-like bar.
“It’s got a lot of salvaged wood, it’s the same paint color inside as Smith and some of the wood framed chalkboards look very, very similar,” she said. “If they had decided to do that look in a different neighborhood or city that would be one thing, but trying to position themselves as an independent coffee house? Where’s the independent spirit in knocking someone off?”
The remodeled Starbucks store, which will serve beer and wine as well its usual caffeinated fare, is making attempts to reflect its neighborhood location, spokeswoman Anna Kim-Williams said. The 15th Avenue store was expected to close last year but is being remodeled instead.
“We’re continuing our commitment to delivering specialty coffee excellence while refreshing our store design approach with an amplified focus on local relevance,” Kim-Williams said, citing the earthy store at First Avenue and Pike Street as an earlier example of the guise. “Ultimately, we hope customers will feel an enhanced sense of community and a deeper connection to our coffee heritage.”
But Derschang said she wishes Starbucks Corp. had approached her to ask if it was OK that the store is painted almost the same deep woods brown color as hers. All five of her restaurants, bars and coffee shops throughout Seattle have a signature look Derschang designed. Managers at another bar of hers, Odd Fellows Cafe and Bar, said they saw Starbucks designers frequent the store to observe its motif.
“If Smith was Subway sandwiches would they really try to match the paint color?” she said. “It’s definitely more to their advantage to look like Smith than Smith’s advantage to look like Starbucks.”
Smith manager Keara Matthiesen said she was asked on Wednesday by representatives of Starbucks Corp. about where the awnings were purchased.
“I told them I don’t know even though I know very well,” she said. “No more!”
Smith isn’t the first local store to feel it has been copy-catted by another. Two Tex-Mex restaurants duked it out in November after Pesos Kitchen and Lounge in Queen Anne claimed that Matador in Ballard had replicated its theme in violation of civil laws regulating the use of “identifying marks.”
After a court battle lasted over a month, Matador agreed to a settlement that included changes to its menu and interior as well as an undisclosed sum of money.
Derschang and Matthiesen will be meeting with representatives of Starbucks Corp. on Monday, Derschang said. She hopes to give the designers a chance to make changes before even considering a lawsuit, she said.
Other neighborhood bars and coffee shops aren’t as concerned about the change in their neighbor’s appearance and product.
“In today’s economy, everybody’s trying to stay afloat,” said Caffe Ladro manager Courtney Howard. “If they’re trying to go back to the neighborhood feel … more power to them.”
Starbucks is planning to open two more Seattle-area stores without the Starbucks name.
Analyst Patricia Edwards said the move to invoke more of a coffee house aura is a return to the roots of artsy, local shops that “(CEO) Howard (Schultz) has always been so enamored with.”
If it brings more traffic in during the afternoon and evening hours, she said that is reason to applaud the stock price slumping company.