The Godfather of Soul

I only got seventh-grade education, but I have a doctorate in funk, and I like to put that to good use.

Hair is the first thing. And teeth the second. Hair and teeth. A man got those two things he's got it all.

I taught them everything they know, but not everything I know.

I've outdone anyone you can name - Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss. Irving Berlin, he wrote 1,001 tunes. I wrote 5,500.

James Brown
The Godfather of Soul
May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006

A Star Is Born

And I Am Telling You,” for all the defiance of its lyric and the triumphal swell of its orchestration, is thus an anthem of impotence, a proud woman’s protest in the face of humiliation and defeat. Like it or not, Effie is going. She has no choice in the matter. But it’s not often you go to the movies and see a big-boned, sexually assertive, self-confident black woman — not played for laughs or impersonated by a male comedian in drag — holding the middle of the screen. And when was the last time you saw a first-time film actress upstage an Oscar winner, a pop diva and a movie star of long standing? Ms. Hudson is not going anywhere. She has arrived.

New York Times film critic A.O. Scott in his review of Dreamgirls (emphasis mine)

Okay, who else is ready to see Dreamgirls? All I know is that if Bradley Bayou isn't on the phone with Jennifer Hudson's people to do her award show gowns I am just gonna faint!

Jennifer, look at what he did for Queen Latifah at the Globes in 2004!

¿Dónde está Anovelista?

No, that's not me folks - but I'm working on it!

Anyway, sorry I've been M.I.A. yet again. Finals and finances people - that's all I'm gonna say! Finals and finances!

Moving on...

I found the cute couple above, Kalsheila and Malcolm (from Rahway, NJ!!) on the website of former CNN newscaster Daryn Kagan. Check out the video Daryn produced about Kalsheila and Malcolm going to New Orleans for their honeymoon to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. Beautiful!

I learned about Daryn's website on Jean Chatsky's show on Oprah & Friends XM radio show. Her contract was not renewed by CNN last year, but instead of riding off into the sunset (or to another network) she created her website to tell good news for a change. If you have an interesting story to tell "of how you or someone you know shows the world what is possible", click here to tell Daryn your story.

Anyone that's read my blog for a while knows I love Corinne Bailey Rae, so of course I'm thrilled that she's up for three of the top Grammy Awards - Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. Mary J. Blige topped the nominees with eight nominations (Go Mary J!)

I'm less than thrilled to see that John McCain has hired Terry Nelson to be his campaign manager. Terry Nelson is the man who produced the infamous "bimbo" ad that helped sink Harold Ford's Senate run in Tennessee. Hmmm.... I wonder what kind of ads they'll come up with if we end up with McCain vs. Obama in 2008?

In closing, a shameless plug: look for my 55 Holiday Favorites next week on 55 Secret Street. Speaking of 55, while checking my site stats, I stumbled across a neat little translation feature on Google (which explains some of the readers who email me but say they speak very little English.)

Check out 55 Secret Street en español, en français and in italiano.

¡Fabuloso!