Thursday, June 25, 2009

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson: I'm losing my childhood memories




I woke up today this morning feeling sorry for myself, because I was feeling bad, with another cold. It seems like I've had the same cold since October 2008. Made coffee, starting getting my writing notes organized and turned on the news, like I do any other morning. I'm not sure what time it was, but I heard that Farrah Fawcett died, I stopped cold in my tracks.

What do you mean she died? Ryan proposed, she accepted and they were going to get married. I knew she was very ill, but she was a fighter and fought her cancer with every strength of her being. She can't be dead. But it's true.

Farrah was my favorite Angel. There was just something about her smile that was so warm and genuine. She gave a new meaning to the "layered look" in hair styles. Anyone with long enough hair that could wear a Farrah "feathered" do, was strutting her stuff and then some.

She was not only beautiful, she was compassionate, intelligent and committed to her craft. I read an article Robert Greenwald wrote for the Huffington Post. He explained that he was so amazed by Farrah when they were shooting The Burning Bed. He had this to say," I was directing her for the first time and her fearless commitment to going to the darkest places emotionally never wavered. She never hesitated when I took her to battered women's shelters. To interview women with painful stories". "... and she never flinched when I described how we needed to take away her wonderful beauty and life force to make the film and role authentic. As I staged the brutal assaults, her physical guts and strength were a shining example for the whole cast".

I remember watching the movie The Burning Bed experiencing many different emotions and awed by Farrah's tremendous performance. The world will miss more than her beautiful smile. May she rest in peace.

Adding insult to injury, the news flashed "Breaking News" and I saw that Michael Jackson was hospitalized. He had cardiac arrest. Being the news junkie that I am. I know from Dr. Sanjay Gupta that cardiac arrest means the heart stops and quivers...it does not beat. Immediate intervention is needed for the patient to survive. He will be OK. I told myself.

Flashbacks took me to last summer when Bernie Mac and Issac Hayes died within days of each other. Two other people I felt close to. I grew up with Issac's music and related to Bernie's humor because we were the same age. The stuff he joked about, I also experienced. Michael was going to be OK, because I willed it to be so.

My sister was the first to tell me Michael died. I screamed out loud. No. She said she was now in mourning. I ran to the TV... at first CNN and MSNBC would not announce the death, because it was not confirmed. But when they finally did announce it, I felt apart of me also left with Michael, because his music was such an important part of my life from my teenage years thru adulthood. Michael was a musical genius.

I tried to think of my favorite Michael Jackson song, but I like too many to name. I managed to pick my 3 favorite albums:Off the Wall, Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller and Bad.

They in no way, neatly package what I most liked about Michael's music, but I feel I need to pin something down. It hasn't completely sunk in yet. Maybe tomorrow it will. The King of Pop is gone. May he find peace and solitude. I will every time I hear his music.










Sunday, June 21, 2009

Patty McCormak: The Bad Seed


The TV held a position of high esteem in our house, my mother likes old movies and both my parents like sports. So needless to say the TV was always on in my parents home. And as a family, we had a habit a giving nicknames to neighbors or the locals, often referring to the many movie or TV characters that we watched.

The Bad Seed was a movie our family most enjoyed. Originally released in 1956, by Warner Brothers. The movie told the story of Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack), a seemingly overly polite little girl, with blonde braids and a flashing smile that was so sweet, until she didn't get her way. Then, without batting an eyelash, she could kill another human and act like nothing ever happened.

Certainly not your Saturday afternoon with the kid’s movie, but our family can find humor in just about anything. See, we had a neighbor that we nicknamed the "bad seed". Now she didn't kill anyone (to my knowledge), but she fit the physical description to a T. Blonde braids and all. She was a spoiled, little brat that knew when to turn on the charm to keep herself out of trouble. Just like the character in the movie.

It seems that the original film is being shown this weekend at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs with the 63-year-old McCormack scheduled to appear. Like most of us, if you can't make that event, check out the DVD the The Bad Seed . Enjoy it at home and "watch out for those shoes."

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Jada Pinkett Smith graces July cover of Redbook magazine


Young, gifted and black. Jada Pinkett Smith graces the cover of July, 2009 Redbook magazine. Jada talks about her husband Will Smith and how they keep their marriage and an exciting sex life going after being married for almost 11 years. Jada had this to say about their relationship.

"We're constant;y surprising each other," No matter what side of the scale one is on, the other will switch to keep the balance. We crack up about it all the time. We hardly every agree on anything, and we've learned to really respect that in our relationship. You might have an idea in your mind of what marriage is supposed to be, and you're driving, driving, driving , toward this ideal picture. But you have to be open to the fact that your relationship is meant to be something else."

Nothing makes me happier than to see a strong, committed relationship. With the debut of Jada's new series HawthoRNe on TNT network and Will's continued film accomplishments, these two have found the formula for personal, family and career success.



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

John Ensign--Cynthia Hampton affair: What goes around comes around


Here we go again. I try so hard to keep politics out of my post (yeah right), but for some reason the Republicans just won't let me. To be fair to Senator John Ensign and Cindy Hampton, I know and you know that Democrats cheat on their mates just as much as Republicans do. It doesn't make it right; it just makes it so. Any cheater in my book is a dog. But, for some reason, Republicans generally--I said generally, come off as the official high and mighty, family value, banish the gays, be of high morals or get banished to hell party. They sneer, smirk and judge others who have "screwed up".

Take Nevada Senator John Ensign for example, He was one of the first to denounce Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. You couldn't shut him up. He was so appalled that the President was a hypocrite and should not be allowed to finish his term. Ensign was also front and center calling for fellow Republican Sen. Larry Craig's head, when he got caught up in that whole embarrassing 2007 bathroom sex sting--thing. So, while Ensign is slamming Craig, he is also involved with the treasurer of his reelection campaign and leadership fund. 46-year old Cindy Hampton. The affair started in December 2007 and ended in August 2008, around four months after Cindy and her husband Doug left Ensign's staff.

Oh, yes. It gets better. Both Cindy Hampton and her Husband Doug Hampton worked for Ensign and rumor has it that Douglas Hampton tried to extort money from Ensign, which prompted Ensign to go public and fess up to his third affair. That's right. Mr. Righteous has had three affairs that he admitted to. His wife Darlene wasn't by his side, but according to a11news.com she made this lame statement, “Since we found out last year, we have worked through the situation, and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends, our marriage has become stronger. I love my husband.”

Wake up Darlene. Even though you guys were actively involved in “Promise Keepers”, a Christian evangelical ministry that promotes strong families and marriages, John has failed three times; he will never pass.

I guess what you do in Vegas stays in Vegas, only if you don't get caught!