1 to 10 of 235
And NO, I'm NOT talking about Beyonce in Carmen: A Hip-Hopera. I'm talking about Grace Bumbry who could sing rings around Beyonce (And don't get upset, That's a fact). So, following up on my piece yesterday about Carmen Jones coming out later this year on blu-ray DVD, it got me to thinking about Bumbry, who starred in a film version of George Bizet's original French opera back in 1967. A St. Louis native Bumbry, who, now at age 76, is still very active and living in Austria, was, in the 60's and 70's, one of the truly great operatic mezzo sopranos of her day. And like her peer Leontyne Price, broke down many barriers. For example, back in the early 60's, she sang the role of...
[view whole blog post
]
Underground hip-hop, Asian indie flicks and good eats galore are just some of the fun times these next few days have in store, while you can also celebrate women (and your mamas!) thanks to the awesome International Women's Day (Friday) and Mothering Sunday. No guesses as to what will be the soundtrack to our weekend, then...
[view whole blog post]
By Fareed Zakaria U.S. wages have fallen from 53 percent of GDP in 1970 to less than 44 percent last year, notes Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times. "The most succinct way to measure how corporate earnings have fared vs. workers' wages is to examine their share of the U.S. economy -- that is, [...]
[view whole blog post]
I don't like sensational headlines unless they're justified, but Egypt seems to be increasingly out of control. After yesterday's court ruling, the Electoral Commission has canceled the April through June election dates, There is talk teh Supreme Constitutional Court could take 60 days tor ule, but the Presidency's promised appeal could take even longer. Given the fact that Muslim Brotherhood candidates recently suff.fered a string of losses in university student elections (even iun strongholds like Asyut), early elections might no longer be a good thing for the MB, so ofall the challenges facing President Morsi, that may nlmost constitute the good news.
Port Said, Egypt's and the Suez Canal's front door to the world, has been in open rebellion since January, with several dead and ...
[view whole blog post]
President Hugo Chavez and race: The shift from avoidance to inclusion The Good, Racist People Hugo Chavez: New World Rising ...
Continue reading »
[view whole blog post]
And I'm still not convinced! I'm sorry folks, but this looks like it's made for the Sci-Fi channel, not for a wide theatrical release. The CG-created world and creatures all look like first or second drafts; I'm not buying Will Smith's fatherly scowl; and I'm not quite sure what to make of Jaden Smith in all this. One bright spot was seeing Sophie Okonedo for the first time. She hasn't appeared in any previous marketing materials. Although she's in this new trailer for a couple of seconds or so. No sign yet of Zoe Kravitz, who plays sister to Jaden, and daughter to Will and Sophie. And lastly, I think it's hilarious that nowhere in the trailer is it prominently stated that M....
[view whole blog post]
SUMMARY: This post is several posts originally written in January and February merged together. These posts were put off from being posted for reasons of time, attention deficits, satisfaction. They were all originally experiments in ways of thinking about recent events to do with Algeria's defensive posture (which has been the subject of some much [...]
[view whole blog post]
America's nukes are designed to comfort us, not scare the enemy.
[view whole blog post]
Syrian rebels who seized the capital of the northern province of Raqqa on Wednesday also appeared in a video posted online that showed some high-profile captives.
[view whole blog post]
Browse more featured blog entries »
Many of the more than 2 million Darfuris still displaced by the decade-long conflict are women and children. Some were born in refugee and internally displaced persons camps and have only known those places as home. Others were children when the conflict began and have become adolescents and young adults in these camps, but they still hold vivid memories of the violence that forced them to leave their homes in Darfur.
The photos below are of drawings by just some of the hundreds of thousands of young
[view whole blog post]
It's quite a weekend for New York's prodigal child. Hip-Hop, that burst of youthful energy that was put out into the universe 30 plus years ago is coming back home from several places at once. It's arriving at a time when Rap music, in its birthplace, confusingly straddles the realms of hyper-capitalism, political activism, youth expression, marginalized's [...]
[view whole blog post]
Since Jeffrey Gettleman's beloved machetes remain sheathed after a peaceful (and therefore thus far apparently uninteresting) Kenyan election, America's paper of records put Africa's other most important story on its front page yesterday. That's right, Oscar and Reeva. It was a blockbuster, stretching from the front page (above to the fold) to occupy an entire page [...]
[view whole blog post]
