On Monday October 19th, at 7pm EST / 4pm PST, Bill Cosby will be hosting a virtual town hall meeting live via Ustream. The purpose is to promote his new CD “Bill Cosby Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency”, which is an album of music with messages reflecting today’s most critical issues affecting young people. The 90-minute event will include a first time ever performance by Cosnarati where they will showcase a few songs from the record. Audience members will be able to tweet @BillCosby before and during the live town hall using http://www.tinyurl.com/ASKCOSBY and connect with him directly at http://twitter.com/BillCosby.

Bill Cosby is not new to saying things black people don’t always want to hear. I wrote a review about his book “Come On People” when it was published and I thought he hit on some pretty important topics. While I may not have agreed with everything he had to say, I do see where he is coming from. Being a comedian in a time when people weren’t always fond of black people, I’m sure Dr. Cosby has experienced some things we can never imagine. He’s opened the doors for a lot of actors and for that alone, his street cred in my opinion is pretty high. I applaud him for his efforts and it’ll be interesting to see how the CD is received.

I will embed the stream on my site or you can go directly to his UsreamTV site where you can chat with others who are watching.

http://www.ustream.tv/billcosby

The undisputed “Queen of Hip Hop” has hooked up with Covergirl to find a female artist to open for her show in each city while on tour. Whether you’re a singer, a dancer, a rapper, or anything in between, this could be your chance to open during her tour of your city. All you have to do is create a one-minute video performance showcasing the Queen Latifah persona that fits you best. Along with a video, tell in 250-words or less why you deserve to ignite your Persona.

Latifah is one of the few women in hip hop with staying power and is truly a role model, inspiring female entertainers everywhere. She all-around entertainer and has excelled in her many endeavors, proving she can stand the test of time

For more information on the Ignite Your Persona Competition, check out the Covergirl website. Also check out Latifah’s reason behind the contest and her personal website to get tour dates.

This photo is from the Official White House Flickr stream. It’s a picture of President Barack Obama playing basketball with White House staffers while on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 26, 2009.

I thought this one would be a cool one to showcase because I like the focused look on Obama’s face as he schools some of his people. When he was running for office, I wondered why anyone would want to take on the challenge in getting America back on track. We were in the middle of a never-ending war and on the cusp of an economic breakdown. The auto industry was falling apart and the financial sector was taking more government bailouts than we could afford to give out. But he took the job anyway.

Whether you agree with Obama’s politics or not, you have to admire the concentrated effort he’s putting into moving this country forward. I like how he’s not afraid to take on the big issues and pray that things will turn out okay after the dust has settled.

I don’t know why politicians don’t understand that, NOTHING IS EVER OFF THE RECORD!!! Here is video from CNN’s Rick Sanchez reporting about an off the record comment from President Obama about Kanye West’s treatment of Taylor Swift at the MTV Awards. While Obama may have been correct in my opinion, he should have known the comment would get out. Shortly after it was made an ABC employee twittered the comment out to everyone.

Poor, poor Kanye. People can only take so much of his big Ego. I wonder if the President will invite him over for a beer.

Here we go. This is funny!

Somebody is going down for this one (Dr. Conrad Murray). The final ruling of the Los Angeles County coroner was that Michael Jackson’s death was a homicide. The coroner determined a fatal combination of drugs was given to Jackson hours before he died in his rented Los Angeles mansion on June 25. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released.

I guess this is the reality of what money can make happen. If you have it, people are willing to do things for you that don’t make any sense at all. I think they are really going to try and make an example of Dr. Murray. The list of celebrities going to prison is growing and people are being reminded that no one is above the law. No matter how much you’re worth. He’s definitely not helping the cause.

Here’s the article from the Associated Press.

Why can’t we just all get along? I’m sure you’ve heard by now on the national news that there was a shooting at a community-sponsored event yesterday on the campus of Texas Southern University. I think what bothers me the most is that I thought from the media coverage that it was a school-sponsored event gone bad. The college has already had issues with it’s reputation, so an event such as this cannot help in any way. I grew up on the campus of Texas Southern. My dad spent most of his career working in the Law School, so I hate to see news like this come out of good school. This is why I felt the need to blog some of the information I’ve gathered.

The event was on Trae Day, a day awarded to Trae Da Truth by the mayor of Houston, Bill White, and Council Member Peter Brown, in honor of his outstanding work within the community. The day was to feature various hip-hop artists and pass out school supplies to kids within the community. Families were encouraged to attend and prominent members of the community were invited. In a statement from TSU’s President, John M. Rudley, some additional information was shared via their website:

Dear Texas Southern University students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends:
You may have heard that an incident occurred on the edge of the Texas Southern University campus Wednesday night, which is currently being investigated by the Houston Police Department. According to detectives, six individuals attending a community-hosted event on the campus were shot in what is believed to be the result of an earlier altercation that took place last week between individuals from the Fresno and Missouri City area, which are 20+ miles southwest of Texas Southern. The injured were taken to area hospitals where their injuries were deemed serious but not life-threatening. A TSU student was among the injured. He was wounded in the leg and was released to his home from the hospital. All the other individuals wounded in the incident are from Missouri City.

Though this appears to be an isolated incident that unfortunately grew from an occurrence 20 miles away from the campus, it has a direct impact on our university and may raise some concerns on the part of our students and their parents, as well as faculty and staff. We want to assure our University community and the students and parents who are about to become part of Texas Southern University that we are working diligently to strengthen our campus security and enhance the safety of everyone attending classes or visiting our campus.
During the past year, we have made the following improvements to our security systems:

* increased lighting across the campus, both the interior and the perimeter areas
* increased video surveillance cameras across campus, including new sites around the perimeter of the university
* increased police presence and patrols during peak hours
* increased foot patrols across the campus
* added bicycle patrols
* provided continuous inspection of the emergency call boxes to ensure functionality
* provided escort services for students, faculty, staff and visitors
* increased building access security measures
* increased specialized training for all police officers, including criminal investigation training, and training for police leadership through the FBI National Academy.

The Department of Public Safety at TSU will continue to assist Houston Police in their investigation of the incident.
Wednesday’s incident occurred just after the completion of a community event developed and hosted by private citizens and community organizations that included the distribution of school supplies and other community-based resources.
Texas Southern University is proud to serve as a venue to important community events, particularly those benefitting our students and academic programs. Nonetheless, a moratorium is being placed on all outside groups requesting use of Texas Southern facilities while we undergo a complete review of our policies and requirements for use of our facilities and campus.

We absolutely believe that the Texas Southern campus remains safe and that this is an isolated tragic incident. We are committed to ensuring the safety of all members of our community and will continue to identify ways that we can increase the security of our campus.
Sincerely,

John M. Rudley, President

In my opinion, it’s an event that was meant for good, gone bad. I can’t comment on any of the featured artists because I haven’t even heard of most of them. The main purpose of this post was to share this statement with the readers of this blog. There are two sides to every story. As a blogger, when I’m able, I just want to see both sides get attention.

Here are some additional links that I’ve found regarding the incident:

• Trae Day Slide Show
• Coverage on 97.9 The Box website
• Statement regarding the incident from Low Down Family Entertainment (see comments)

Last year, I blogged about the winners of Here Come The Newlywed Season 1 and was shocked at how fast the post gained popularity. The post even led to me getting an actual interview with last year’s winners, Johnnie and Crystal Moutra. So it was only fitting that I write a post on this year’s couple. The final couples were Marlo & Mark Corliss from Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts and Makayla & Kenny McMorris from Omaha, Nebraska.

I honestly feel each couple on the show learned something new about their spouses. Before the final decision was made, both husbands gave a heart-felt speech about what they’d learned in the house about their wife. Both husbands gave great speeches, but in the end it was the Corlisses that ended up winning over $400,000. That’s a nice chunk of change for a newlywed couple and it’ll definitely allow them to get started on the right track financially. I thought all of the couples this year were great and it’s good to see a show about marriage, relationships and getting to know the one you’ve married be the focus of a reality television show. This is only the beginning for all the couples. I wish them all the best and thanks again ABC for another great season.

I always get nervous when I see news like this come across a social networking site before news confirms it because you never know if it’s true. This has been a tough couple of months for a lot of celebrity families who have lost love ones and this is not the first time that I found out about it via Twitter.

I first saw a tweet by @AroundHarlem (twitter.com/AroundHarlem) and thought it may have been someone else because I hadn’t seen it on the news yet. But just like the Michael Jackson passing, the news started reporting after it moved through the Internet. It’s amazing how fast news travels today, which is why we have to be careful to decipher between rumor and fact. But most of the people I follow are good at making sure the right information is posted. It wasn’t until I noticed an update in Wikipedia that I decided to post on his passing. I’m sure if you start googling it now, you’ll find a lot out there.

I remember when Steve came to the Houston Oilers. I was exited because we REALLY needed a quarterback, but they wouldn’t let him play. I was upset about it, but the Oilers left for Tennessee and I had to get over it. Along with Warren Moon, I consider him to be one of my favorite quarterbacks and pray the best for those survived by him. It’s sad to hear this kind of news, but it reminds us how precious life really is.

Last night during our church instrumental rehearsal, I had the opportunity to speak to some of our soon-to-be high school Juniors about my education and career. While the purpose of our ministry is to use the talents we’ve been given to glorify God, the adult leaders in the group felt it was also important for us to make sure the youth could benefit from some of our life experiences as they prepare for college. We didn’t want to lecture them about the “old days” and we wanted it to be in a relaxed environment where they could ask questions.
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In the world of blogging, you never know how people will react to something you post. Blogging has allowed me to meet a lot of great people and this is no exception. When the Johnnie & Crystal Moutra won the show, I have to admit I was pretty happy for them. Not only did they look like a good couple, the played the game the way it should have been played and earned the respect of everyone on the show. Even better, they were from my hometown, Missouri City, TX (the place where dreams come true), so you know I had to show them some love. Well, the post got picked up by some other sites and became pretty popular. Fans of the Moutras from all over the world left comments, one being from Johnnie’s mom. I contacted her and she put me in contact with Johnnie (thanks Momma Moutra).

I want to thank Johnnie and Crystal for taking the time to answer the questions. I’m hoping this won’t be the last you all get to hear from them on this blog. Also thanks to the folks at ABC for getting us set up. Season 2 of Here Come the Newlyweds will air Mondays on ABC at 9pm Central. I just watched the second episode last night and like season 1 will make for a night of good TV.

When my wife and I got married, everyone called us honeymooners for at least the first five years. How has life changed since the finale of “Here Come the Newlyweds? What have you all been up to?

We purchased our own home on the eve of Christmas. Lol, we moved out my mamas house, and moved not even 2 minutes down the street from my mamas. Other than that, we’re still working at the school (My parents own a private school, Bearrington School in Stafford Tx)……Crystal’s a great teacher (Pre-K 3)…….the children in her class are already reading! and speaking their numbers en espanol. I (John-John) am still the same ol’ silly, handsome, joke tellin’ self….I’ll never change.

According to the ABC website, the show was “all about relationships, the differences between men and women, and the universal issues that every couple must face”. Crystal, what did you learn about Johnnie during the show? Johnnie, same question.

Crystal – That he still didn’t know me! Before the show I used to ask him all the to go shopping for clothes with me…..now we’re on national TV and he gets all the sizes wrong.
Johnnie – Women take too long… I could drop Crystal off at the mall in Houston, drive to Galveston, use the restroom for about 30 – 45 minutes ( #2), drive back, get gas, go back to the mall, and she’d still be trying on clothes…..I’m starting to wonder if she knows her own sizes.

During the final episode of the show, what was going through your mind before hearing the results?
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