Hawk-Eye Technology Changes Tennis Environment

Instant replay made its debut at the U.S. Open this week. And it was great. It made tennis matches much more exciting. Now if they would just get rid of lets. The 10 small cameras tracking shots measure marks within three millimeters. Only the Ashe and Armstrong stadiums have the system because it costs $300,000. Players get two challenges per set plus another one for tiebreakers. If the call is reversed, the player keeps the challenge.

We believe the system was adopted because of bad calls that went against Serena Williams in two different major tournaments.

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Little Richard is Hilarious in Geico Commercial

"MASH POTATOES"

"GRAVY"

"CRANBERRY SAUCE"

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Dan Snyder Partners with Tom Cruise

Washington Indians and Fed Ex Field owner Dan Snyder, hme builder Dwight C. Schar and Six Flags chief executive Mark Shapiro formed a new partnership, First and Goal LLC, to partner with Tom Cruise for two years. Tom Cruise and his business partner Paula Wagner will be paid between $3 and $10 million annually for development and overhead costs in exchange for the opportunity to finance film projects and to profit from any hit movies.

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Diana Ross Sings Billie Jean Tribute at the U.S. Open

Diana Ross sang at the tribute to Billie Jean King at the U.S. Open. It was the dedication of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The USTA National Tennis Center opened in 1978, and inaugurated Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world’s largest tennis stadium, in 1997. Louis Armstrong Stadium is the second tennis stadium of the U.S. Open

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Emmy Awards 2006

Blacks were largely missing from the 2006 Emmy Awards. Tyra Banks, right, was the only black presenter and no blacks were nominated for awards. Seal was there with his pregnant wife, Heidi Klum. Prince played a private concert sponsored by Entertainment Tonight and People magazine. Dick Clark should take Johnny Carson's example.

We don't care. There will be more in the future. Moreover, "24" won for 'Best Drama' and not only did they have one black president, it is being reported that his TV brother will also become president based on the sympathy factor. (Booker Risig)

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"Survivor" Pits the Races Against Each Other For $1 Million

Americans squirm at the thought of race differences at the same time they celebrate their own race. The CBS reality show knows this and also knows they need a new angle to keep the show fresh. This is a good one. Everyone will watch in spite of themselves. And we are sure the producers will be as politically correct as possible. After pitting blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos against each other, we are sure they will integrate them as soon as possible. And why not, only one person can win the $1 million. Of course, then that person's race has bragging rights. The shenanigans to get there will be great for office water cooler discussions.

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Debmar-Mercury Goes Around Big Hollywood Studios

Debmar-Mercury (DM), a subsidiary of movie maker Lionsgate, is bypassing Hollywood’s traditional output system and is using an innovative distribution model to put first-run syndicated sitcoms on TBS in 2007 and Fox-owned outlets in New York, Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C. in 2008. Until now, sitcoms have gone to a network and then six years later there were 100 episodes to sell in syndication. Now talent and a profit participant can participate in ownership. Cable, rather than broadcast stations, gets the episodes first. Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein are co-presidents of Debmar-Mercury.

The first distribution deal for DM is “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” and is valued at $200 million. Perry has begun production on the episodes and is expected to deliver nearly 75 episodes to TBS by fall 2007, with the remaining 25 due in 2008. This is the first television work for Perry and expands his feature film relationship with Lionsgate (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea’s Family Reunion). Perry serves as director, producer, executive producer and writer, which will provide him with a large ownership stake in the series, about a multi-generational family living under one roof. It stars Allen Payne. Tyler Perry owns all the rights and we distribute it.

Perry is represented by the William Morris Agency, which structured the deal. Perry is also represented by Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman, Cook, Johnson, Lande & Wolf

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Russell Simmons Hosts Fundraiser for Michael Steele

Russell Simmons of Hip-Hop fame is hosting a fundraiser for Maryland Republican Lt. Governor and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park in Baltimore, Maryland. Radio One Chairwoman Cathy Hughes is also participating in the event. Russell Simmons, the Def Jam Records label founder, appears to ignore partisan labels when it comes to effective politics. You have our attention Mr. Simmons.

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Radio One Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Radio One founder Cathy L. Hughes, left, and her son, Alfred C. Liggins III, right, celebrated moving from a small daytme AM radio in a trailer in Washington, DC in 1979 to owning 71 stations around the country today with 15 million listeners. Radio One is the only publicly traded company headed by an African American woman. Liggins graduated from the Wharton Business School and took over as Radio One CEO in 1989. Huges remains as Chairwoman. They also own and operate the TV One Cable Channel.

The event was held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in downtown Washington, DC. It was attended by numerous celebrities: AAEA founding board member Dick Gregory, Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, Sean 'P.Diddy' Combs, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, Ruben Studdard, Danny Glover, Chuck Brown, James Ingram, Tom Joyner, Michael Eric Dyson and Maryland Lt. Governor and Senate candidate Michael Steele, among others. Entertainment was provided by Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin and Beyonce Knowles.

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Interracial Kiss Changed Outer Space Environment in 1967

Nichelle Nichols, left, played Lt. Uhura on the original "Star Trek" television show. She was the first black woman featured on a television series and shared the first interracial kiss on TV with William Shatner as Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Of course, an alien being had to force him to kiss her and he looked away as he did, but it was 1967.

The universe did not collapse on itself. The space time continuum was not affected. The laws of physics did not change. At the end of the day it was just a kiss. But then as now, race in America is perplexing. Remember the "Star Trek episode where two races represented by two men, both with half black and half white faces, but with each color on an opposite side of their faces. When Kirk asked what they were fighting over, they pointed out the difference.

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Snakes On A Plane : Fear of Flying, Snakes & Blacks

SoaP is already a cult classic and it hasn't even come out yet. The title is a hit. The concept is a hit. The B movie anticipation is a hit. We know that some people fear snakes. Some people have a real fear of flying. And more than those two, many people fear blacks. And Sam Jackson, above, even though he is a superstar, is probably one of the scariest looking black men out there. He likes to talk loud too.

We can't wait to see this aerial horror film. The fauna onboard are just a great addition. There will be women screaming and reptiles slithering. So if you fear flying, snakes and black people, then you will be scared right out of your seat watching this film. Buckle up. The only thing that could be scarier would be snakes on a "Soul Plane."

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NASA Loses Original Moon Landing Tapes : Found By AAEA

It is being reported that NASA has lost the original videotapes of the 1969 Moon landing, including the first step taken by Neil Armstrong, of "One Small Step..." fame. Well we have good news from our Washington, DC AAEA Headquarters, which is located near Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Several months ago an AAEA volunteer found a sealed plastic container with tapes inside on the shoulder of the Capital Beltway (I-495). Stored in an AAEA secured locker, we recently decided to view what was inside and realized that it was the videotapes of the Moon landing. We have contacted NASA about the tapes but have experienced resistance from them in accepting the tapes. The press has also refused to accept the tapes. We find these responses more than interesting. Maybe you can see why they are reluctant to reclaim the video by viewing this original footage yourself. (Click start twice)

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Looking To Be Overlooked in Hollywood : Groundhog Day

Experiencing subtle racism for blacks is sometimes like Bill Murray's experiences in the movie "Groundhog Day." Variations on the same theme. So being obsessed with racism and things racial, we took our microscope to the movie.

In looking to be overlooked in the movie "Groundhog Day," we at first could not remember seeing any blacks in the movie. Then we remembered the bartender and the nurse (when the old man died). So we were curious about the black population in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to see if the movie adequately represented black folk. Surprisingly we found out that there are 14 blacks in Punxsutawney and 6,195 whites (2000 Census). So the two blacks were probably more than representative. No racism under that rock. Plenty of other rocks to look under though.

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WEEDS : The Dope Show Makes a Comeback

Not since Cheech & Chong popularized dope in the early 1970s has a show about pot been popular. But "Weeds" is Showtime's highest-rated series. Mary Louis Parker, middle left, of "The West Wing" fame is the star and chief pot dealer. Her husband died and she has to make money to raise her two sons. Her brother moves in too. And to keep it interesting, she falls for a DEA agent.

Parker's character is quite the slut. She bangs a rival Latino dealer in an alley on a car. There is also heat between her and a black character, "Conrad Shepard," played by Romany Malco, right. We doubt this flame will be lit. He did bed her best friend in her car outside a club though. Of course, Parker gets her pot from a black pot dealing family. In one show their house got shot up.

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JAY-Z Works To Protect Water Resources

JAY-Z has announced that he is joining forces with the United Nations and MTV to make children aware of the need to conserve water because billions of people worldwide lack safe drinking water and access to proper sanitation. Jay-Z plans to film an MTV documentary titled "Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life," to air in November. (ET Newslink)

Jay-Z World Tour Itinerary

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Hollywood Interracial Romance: Saved By The Bell

Back in the late 80's early 90's there was a little show called "Saved By The Bell" that casually featured an unrequited romance between Lisa and Screech. Lisa constantly rejected Screech's advances. It was cute, particularly considering how uptight America is about interracial love. Interracial sex is even more controversial. The taboo is still intact because leading black men, including Will Smith and Eddie Murphy, cannot play romantic leads with white women. And if they do there is no romance or sex as was illustrated with Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts in "The Pelican Brief."

Lisa was the cutest little thing and Screech played the nerd. Now she is plain out beautiful. Hollywood must be a tough town because, as is not unusual, these actors have not been seen too much since then. Lisa Turtle was played by Lark Voorhies, (now left & then right) and Samuel 'Screech' Powers was played by Dustin Diamond (middle picture)

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Mel Gibson, Jews & African Americans

We have read on several occasions now that if Mel Gibson had ranted about blacks instead of Jews, Hollywood and the rest of America would have reacted more severely (see Wash Post). A recent article was really critical of the Hollywood Jewish community's tepid response. There is also much commentary about how sensitive Jews are about anyone talking about their power in Hollywood. Yet Jews built Hollywood in California because they werre not free to operate adequately back in the Northeast. Nothing wrong with that. They should be proud of that. But we guess Jews merit some degree of paranoia regarding others seeing them as powerful because there is a rich history of them then being targeted for various persecutions.

Of course the global Jewish community has much more to worry about right now than Mel Gibson's anti Semitic rants. We suspect Mel was not drunk but is up to something larger. He might be an alcoholic, but he is also one of the smartest men in Tinseltown. But it is easy to say that blacks would react more because blacks have virtually NO power in Hollywood. Our power unfortunately in many cases is the power of the WHINE. That is why we are accused of complaining too much. Well we are given too much to complain about (almost daily). So yes the reaction would be greater from the black community because we have no real power in Hollywood and we also have less to lose by hammering a powerful Hollywood figure. We are as practiced at victimhood as we are at entertainment. By the way, where is Danny Glover on Mel Gibson's actions? He sure does comment on everything else under the Sun.

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Did You Know the President of MTV is a Black Woman?

Christina Norman, left, was appointed president of MTV: Music Television in May 2005. Norman is based in New York and answers directly to Van Toffler, President, MTV Networks Music/Films/Logo Group. Norman was previously President of VH1. She oversees the day-to-day leadership, strategy and management of MTV. She directs business development, research, marketing and promotion, finance, communications and human resources and partners with the respective general managers on the overall strategic direction of MTV2, mtvU, MTV Español , MTV Hits and MTV Jams.

Some controversy is being gnerated by MTV's black oriented show, "Where My Dogs At?" where a Snoop Dogg cartoon figure disrespects women.

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8 Years of No Inconvenient Truth Is Inconvenient

The Trailer for Al Gore's global warming movie

Trailer for Spoof of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"

Produced by Washington, DC-based DCI Group

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Tiger Target Commercials Start After NAACP Boycott

Didn't Tiger Woods, right, hear about the NAACP call to "stay out of Target stores" until further notice? The dispute is over the retail giant's ignoring the group's diversity survey. Well the NAACP's Annual Meeting was during the British Open. Or maybe Tiger just didn't get the memo. Is Tiger a member of the NAACP?

Bruce S. Gordon, left, president of the NAACP does not want to call it a boycott but he has warned Target to respond to the questions about its financial and employment practices, which the company has not done for the past two years. Anyway, it just looks kind of strange that right after the NAACP calls for a "stay out," Tiger advertises to go right on in.

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Racism Injected Into the Connecticut Senate Race

How could Arianna allow this digitally altered trash to be posted on her site? Yes we're posting the stupid picture to call her on her s--t. So Lieberman is supposed to be Bill Clinton's blackface minstrel? Some folks always want to pimp our race somehow. The picture was posted on the Huffington Post Web site by Jane Hamsher, a blogger who supports Mr. Lamont. Huff should police racist trash on her site. Does she endorse use of the photo?

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Bill O'Reilly Defends Condoleeza Rice On Palestinian Racism

Bill O'Reilly, left, strongly condemned the racist cartoon of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, right, published in a Palestinian Authority daily. O'Reilly railed against the portrayal of the Secretary of State being pregnant with a monkey. Secretary Rice must have really appreciated the defense of her honor because she appeared on his show the very next night (tonight). They did not discuss the cartoon. Thank Bill. We appreciate it too.

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The Amateurs

The trailer for the upcoming movie, "The Amateurs," is hilarious. The film is about a small town that bands together to make a porno film. Jeff Bridges stars and plays a guy dealing with a midlife crisis who hatches the scheme. One really funny scene in the trailer shows them looking at the penises of three black men and somebody asks, "What nuclear power plant did your parents work at?" Now we don't mind that stereotype at AAEA and it promotes another potential benefit of nuclear power.

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MTV is 25 Years Old Today : How Times Have Changed

MTV was born on August 1, 1981 and did not air a black video for the next two years until Michael Jackson integrated its airwaves. Of course, now MTV is down with dumb Hip Hop culture music and metal appears to be dead on its airwaves. We're just glad that rap stars have moved on to productive movie careers. Think Will Smith, Queen Latifah and Ice Cube.

Congrats MTV. Since 1981 Michael Jackson experienced technical difficulties, AIDS expressed itself, black-on-black murder metastasized and capitalism has provided an unprecedentedly prosperous lifestyle in America. Your progeny, BET, was even sold for $3 billion to Viacom.

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