DarkStar Spouts Off

Mickey Owns Spiderman

At first I was mad that Marvel Comics "sold out" to Disney, but then when I thought about it, it made perfect sense.

For Disney, they get the fast track to obtaining the rights to the Marvel Comics characters AND some of the talent Marvel has.

For Marvel, they get the deep pockets of Disney and greatly increases their chances of survival in a "new world" where reading of newspapers and magazines are down. My assumption is, in this new age, comic book sales are drastically down as well.

This is a good deal for all involved.

Dance Yo!

Wanda Sykes

Her performance at the White House Correspondent's Dinner was probably more appropriate for her club act than for the dinner. But even with that, the "cries" over her comments about Rush Limbaugh are way out of order.

If the same people didn't complain when Rush Limbaugh "joked" that heroine users should OD and die, then they have no standing to complain now.

Was It Me?

Or was Whitney high?

All Hail The Crown!

Yet More Bullet Point Thoughts

More thoughts in bullet point format. Are you ready?

• Am I the only person thinking that it normally takes a long time before "road work" projects are started after the work has been approved? Design. Public comments. Environmental evaluation. Surveying. Permits... Letting the contract. So, by the time the road projects start, it may be "too late".
• File this one under the NSS category!
  
  More than half of troubled borrowers face losing their homes even six months after lenders have eased their monthly payments, one regulator said, a discouraging sign for reversing a tide of foreclosures.
  
  "The results, I confess, were somewhat surprising," said John Dugan, the Comptroller of the Currency, who oversaw the study and spoke on a panel with fellow regulators.

  Sheila Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, said that aid efforts to borrowers were falling short while another regulator said Washington may be wasting money on foreclosure prevention.
  
  Have you ever loaned money to someone who just doesn't pay people back? When you do, do you REALLY expect to get paid back? If you do, you are a sucka.

• Just a reminder.
• The Real Housewives of Atlanta was really different from The Real Housewives of Orange County. The former seemed to be about a culture of conspicuous consumption while the latter seemed to be about people living in their culture of having money. With that in mind, this didn't come as a surprise but I hope this is not as is being reported and assumed. Even so, she really has no class.
• I'm bored with politics, but this is just straight up gangsta. Dollar Bill Jeffer$on has NOTHING on this dude!

One Of The Top 5 Videos Of All Time

Just Stoopid

How Not To Sing The Blues

The Dark Knight

I just saw "The Dark Knight" and forget about all of the fuss over The Joker. The best character in the movie is Harvey Grant Dent.

[ Updated for name change ]

This Is So Wrong

Water On Mars!!!!!

George Carlin

From a past post on comedy:

• George Carlin -- Irreverent or topical or "angry" it doesn't matter. The man is just funny. The 2 of his top routines that come to mind are "Stuff"
  

  and "The 7 Dirty Words". OK, it's full of "dirty words" but it's funny.
  

I'm THERE!

Jackie Chan.
Jet Lee.
Same movie?

Yes. I'm there.

The Wire Finale

See below the fold for spoilers.

Brain Spew Sunday: Comedy

I was talking with my daughter yesterday, and she mentioned someone who had no sense of humor. She then said "even I" have a sense of humor, it's just hard to categorize. She said it's "different" and then she said it's "dry." When I told Mrs. D.S., she laughed and said her mother taught her how to be polite.
So, I know that was a slam, but that leads me to this post.

Best comedy routine, EVER: "Who's On First" by Abbott and Costello.

Best comedy movie, EVER: "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World". Spencer Tracy was the perfect straight man for everyone else in this movie: Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Jim Backus, etc. Straight up hil-ar-ri-us!

Dr. Burke Is Gone!

Will Isiah Washington get the same support that Don Imus received?

The Sopranos

What. A. Waste.

The next to last show raised hopes, but then the last show was whack!

Reality Scam: Flip This House

Wow.
Just. WOW.

One Saturday, I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready for the family when "Flip This House" came on. Mrs. D.S. was previously watching a home improvement show. After about 20 minutes, I was HOOKED! It was a show that featured a brother, his wife, and his employees and contractors going through the process of flipping a house. At the end of the 1 hour show, I was impressed. My wife said she was impressed as well but wondered about the focus on the bottom line. She even said she wouldn't buy a home from someone like that, while I said I wouldn't mind. Additionally, the amount of money made on the flip was impressive.

This morning, after I made a run to the hardware store, I came in the house and my wife just hugged me and said, "Come up stairs, I have something to show you."

I thought she was going to show me a blue stick!

Instead, she showed me this link:

ATLANTA (FOX 5) -- What if you found out an American Idol contestant was lip-synching? What if the Bachelor was really married? How real is reality TV? The FOX 5 I-Team answers that question with one of America's favorite reality shows: Flip This House. Senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell found one Atlanta developer on the show, Sam Leccima, wasn't telling the truth about his renovations.

Now, I am heart broken!

Sam was ON THE BALL! Instead, it was a scam and he not only involved and scammed people who thought they were friends, he seemed to focus on Black people. Here is part two of the investigation. Dude never made a profit! Dude even lost his license BEFORE the "Flip This House" shows!

Check out Dale Russell's blog about this.

I also started a show called "The Real Deal". The person who stars in this flipping show was also on "Flip This House". Check out the flipthislawsuit blog. It's not associated with "The Real Deal" but it's an interesting read.

After watching a few shows, one with Armando Montelongo, I was impressed with the series, BUT I told my wife that if Montelongo ever did anything in my area, I wouldn't buy from him because he really seemed to be focused more on money vs. doing a good job.

Man, I'm really crushed.

I Don't Got A Belly Button

Radio One Sells Stations

P6 reminds me to post about Radio One selling radio stations.

Radio One yesterday announced the sale of 10 stations in two mid-size markets to a D.C. equity firm, part of an effort to divest properties that don't fit the company's mission of dominating the urban radio market.

Arlington Capital Partners will pay $76 million for five radio stations in Dayton, Ohio, and five in Louisville, Ky. The stations will be run by Main Line Broadcasting, a Philadelphia company within Arlington's portfolio that operates nine radio stations in Richmond, Hagerstown and Waynesboro and Chambersburg, Pa.

The same accounting scheme that have caused bigger companies to recalculate costs of stock options, has hit Radio One. Add to that the industry-wide fall in advertising revenue and Radio One is in serious trouble.

I remember when WKYS was sold. For about 2 months before the transfer was completed, "all of the sudden," the programming of the station drastically improved. On the last show under the old owners, the D.J.s gave their thanks to listeners for listening over the years. One noted that she had received comments about the improvement in the radio programming. She said the old owners decided to let the D.J.s program their own shows!

Maybe Radio One should try this novel concept in some markets.

Disgusted

R. Kelly opens his alleged child molester mouth:

R. Kelly compares himself to Muhammad Ali, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley --
and even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- in a magazine interview that
hits the street just in time for the release of his new album this
month.

Kelly, the Chicago native who rose from street singer to star before
facing criminal charges of having sex with an underage girl, made the
comments in the spring/summer issue of Hip-Hop Soul magazine.

The magazine had not reached newsstands Wednesday, but the Sun-Times
received an advance copy.

The most eyebrow-raising quote: "I'm the Ali of today. I'm the Marvin
Gaye of today. I'm the Bob Marley of today. I'm the Martin Luther
King, or all the other greats that have come before us. And a lot of
people are starting to realize that now."

I am disgusted.

Five years ago, I remember people asking, "Ed! Did you see That TAPE!!!!?!?!????" When I said no and asked was it him, everyone said yes.

The Chocolate Factory CD came out and people brought it. I didn't, I didn't even burn it even though it was good. The Ron Isley CD that the alleged child molester did, was good, but I didn't buy it. The Charlie Wilson CD that the alleged child molester did, was good, but I didn't buy it.

I refuse to give him money so that he can continue to use his fame to go after under aged girls; allegedly.

And people who support him make me sick.

Rap Offended

I am offended by much of what goes as rap on commercial radio. I don't like it and it has driven me from listening to commercial radio after the morning drive time period. I am offended that some people are saying that rap IS Black culture when rap is a sub-culture of entertainment and a sub-culture of America.

Some have said the term "gangsta" comes from the Black community. As I wrote earlier, the term is nothing but slang for gangster, which came about from the gangs that arose during alcohol prohibition.

Some have said that "hip-hop" promotes anti-intellectualism, but I don't know the songs that support that assertion. Better yet, no songs have been provided that support that assertion. This weekend, Mother's Day weekend, many HBCUs hold graduation ceremonies. One can assume that most of the graduates listen to rap. So, why are they immune from the alleged anti-intellectualism in rap?

Rap does glamorize drug use, but when you look at the drug use statistics, except for marijuana use, Blacks use drugs in smaller proportions than whites use drugs. Meth use is rising fast, but unless I'm mistaken, rap isn't glamorizing the use of meth.

Much of commercial rap is offensive, but blaming the many ills in the Black on rap is a lame excuse. I just wish people will come out and say that they think Black people are sheep. That would get it out into the open and properly dealt with; or not.

I guess I should write that this is not a defense of rap. I don't care for the language, I don't care for the images and I don't care for the "bling bling." They are the present day minstrel show.

Spiderman 3

I was PUMPED to see Spiderman 3. After viewing the movie, however, I was left sorely lacking.

I understand there has to be tension between Peter, Spiderman, and M.J. I understand that Peter has to allow Spiderman to take priority over M.J. and any sane woman would start to have problems with this priority.

It was cool to have Peter get a bit of a big head because everyone loves Spiderman and I can see part of that becoming a storyline. But if they had left most of the love interest crap, they still could have
made the story line of revenge and ego be credible.

It was just too much love stuff. When there was action, it was good, fast moving, action. When it was a love story, it was, well...

A bad love story.

The Sopranos: Wimping of Men

So far, I have to say that "The Sopranos" is example A for the media wimpification of men in the media.

What is with Tony still in therapy? Other family bosses afraid to step up and take over because "they are too old"? Refusing to whack a drugged out captain? Letting your wife dictate to you how you do your business? A long time man in the family never whacking someone?