Annenberg Space for Photographers

Today as I paced the floor trying to figure out what I was going to do with this beautiful holiday weekend, I searched the internet for goings on in Los Angeles. Well of course there are always lots of things going on, but I was looking for some kind of festival, a great photo opportunity. I did not come across any festivals, but I was so anxious to get out of the house before all of the holiday traffic and mishaps filled the city.

I decided to go to the Annenberg Space for Photography, a place that I intended to visit for almost two years. I first heard about this place when I became a member of this local photography club, Photographers and Digital Artist of Los Angeles, but never found the time to go. There has been numerous lectures and exhibits that I intended to see, but never made it.

Today I decided that it was time. After mapping my way with Google Maps, I decided that I would catch the bus to avoid parking fees as well as traffic on a Friday after noon before Memorial Day weekend, and I headed out.

Annenberg is located on Avenue of the Stars off of Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. The main exhibit was a collaboration with National Geographic on the state of fresh water in our world, and it was beautifully done; as is anything with National Geographic. The space is smaller than I expected, however not too small, and beautifully designed.

Being a photographer myself, it was well worth the visit and a place I hope to frequent.

The above photo was taken from http://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/

This Baby was in pain.

I went to the Los Angeles Equestrian Club yesterday and totally enjoyed myself. I watched a few horse shows taking place outside as well as inside the arena.

I came across this little horse that looked like a wounded puppy. He was in fact hurting in more ways than one. As I approached the pen, he was on the opposite side from me, so I decided to stick my camera lens through the bars to photograph him. I did get the first shot that way, but after that he started to walk toward me, slowly of course and with conscious precision. That is when I discovered that he was barely putting his right foot on the ground, realizing that he was hurt. When he approached me, he put his nose through the bars as a dog would when they want you to pet them. I was a little hesitant at first, because horses will bite you and this was an unfamiliar horse, and he was hurt.



So I started to talk to him and he continued to push his nose through the bars. So I decided to take a chance but putting my hand in further down from his mouth and rubbing his neck. Thinking if he made a quick move toward my hand, I would have time to snatch it back. But he didn't do that and I continued to rubbed and touch him from his neck and finally to his jaw and nose. He just wanted some love because he was in pain. Is that not familiar! I continued to rub him and talk to him and he was really calm. It actually felt good to give him that attention, I wish that I could have spent more time with him . Again he was unfamiliar to me, so I moved on after awhile.




I was surprised to see William Shatner there participating in one of the horse shows, but I discovered that he was the one promoting the show. I was aware that he was putting on a charity event at the club later that afternoon. I was able to get a few photos of him.

Bill Withers-The Music Man

Still Bill Trailer from B-Side Entertainment on Vimeo.

Bill Withers has made music that transcends race and time, which is obvious by how much his music is played today. He was born William Harrison Withers on July 4th, 1938. Yes Independence Day, not surprising for a man that was definitely an independent thinker, true to himself and what he believes in.

It was during his nine year stint in the U.S. Navy that he decided to pursue a musical career, and upon discharge, he moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1971 he debut with " Ain't No Sunshine" which was an immediate success, but he refused to quit his day job.

In 1971, 1981, and 1987 he won a Grammy Award for the same category, 'Best Rythm and Blues Song'. Then he dropped out of site.

There were quite a few of us that wondered why Bill drop out of view. After listening to his being interviewed on the Jesse Thorn Radio Show, I now know.

Bill basically talked about the demands of being a performer and that there were some real mean people in the business, he called them "cold pimps". He said that there is a poem that he always kept in his head;

The Manager's son goes to Yale
The Blues Man's son goes to Jail

As he expressed in this interview, he had responsibilities that required that he be available.


Below is the interview with Bill Withers and Jesse Thorn.

The Sound of Young America

michael explains

We are the World 25 year Annivesary

You be the judge.




OK OK It is great to see all of that Old School Talent.

Civil Rights and Bob Dylan

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has been instrumental in social change since the 1960's with his folk music. He was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota.

At the age of six, his father was stuck with Polio and the family moved to Hibbing, Minnesota, a small but close-knit Jewish community where his mother was from. He spent most of his youth listening to the radio and fell in love with music, at the time it was rock and roll.

When he entered the University of Minnesota, he decided that rock and roll was not enough for him and turned to folk music. He wanted to write and sing songs that reflected life, with all its pain and deep emotions. He wanted to tell these stories. It was at this time that he started to introduce himself as Bob Dylan.

In 1963 Dylan was very active in the Civil Rights Movement, when he was to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, and because of his politics and the song that he wanted to sing on the show "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" CBS Television believed it to be slanderous against the John Birch Society, so instead of being censored, he refuse to appear on the show.

Of course this got him a great deal of attention.

In August of 1963, Dylan and his partner Baez sang songs from his third album " The Times They Are A-Changin", at the March on Washington.
On this album were songs like, " Only A Pawn in Their Game", which addressed the death of Medger Evers; "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" about the death of a black barmaid at the hands of a white socialite; and many others that carried strong political messages.
He also recorded this song,

" The Death of Emmit Tillman"

By the end of that year the pressure and tension of his activism had taken his told and the music changed.

Patrick Swayze 1952- 2009

All photos from US Weekly.com



Patrick Swayze has given a great deal of himself to his audience. I fell in love with his with the movie "Ghost" with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg.
I understand that he started out as a dancer and his mother owned a dance school. Later, I was able to realize that this was another talent of Patrick's actually the one that got him in the door.










"Too Wong Foo" is another of my favorites. One that my daughter introduced me to and we have watched this together over and over again.










Another one is 'Point Break". These are the three movies that I have loved the most. His talent will truly be missed. I am happy that he no longer has to suffer that pain, and that he went to sleep knowing that he did his best and that he had given his all, and that his talent was truly appreciated.

"I Can Do Bad By Myself "

I Can Do Bad All By Myself

This was absolutely a wonderful movie. Tyler let this story play out beautifully, and I love how he let the other smaller story lines play off the main story. This was definitely one of his best thus far. I believe that Tyler Perry is just getting started.
The most important thing here even more so than entertainment, he has really capture the true tone of black life and black love. He shows that we area multifaceted people, with many stories to tell. Tyler knows the root and that has been our Momma and the church. But he doesn't' just stop there because that is not everyone's story, often times it is the Daddy that is the cornerstone, or the granddaddy, or the lady across the street.

Taraji Henson was good as usual, she nailed this character. It was also refreshing to see Adam Rodriguez in this part, the cultural difference was necessary. The Church as a character was also great. This movie is definitely a must see. Thanks Tyler for telling our story.

MJ in "The Great Mausoleum"

photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images




This service tonight looks very different than the memorial service that was held at the Staple Center. The memorial service was definitely for the fans, and this funeral is more personal.

Michael is being buried in Forest Lawn's 'The Great Mausoleum' which is beautiful in its own right. It is filled with marble, stain glass windows, life size sculptures, and much more beauty of the same. This is also an area where it is not open to the public, and well guarded by live guards in addition to many other security measures. This is the level of security that probably prompted Katherine Jackson to bury her son there.

This is the day that once again reminds us that even though he seems larger than life, he is merely a man with extraordinary gifts that he shared with the world. It is my belief that he was bestowed on us by His Father with a certain mission for a certain period of time. Well Michael has finished his mission an is now at Rest.

Happy "51st" Birthday MJ

I am again sharing this photo that I took at the Jackson Compound of some of the memorabilia that was on display in front of the house.

Michael will always be in the hearts of African Americans all over the world, we believe that he belong to us; but because of his works, his love of all people, and his incredible talent, he will be in the hearts of many.

Happy Birthday Michael, you will never be forgotten. Be at peace my brother.

Brown Sugar Reminds Me of Friendship, one in particular

When I see this movie or hear the soundtrack, it reminds me of only one person. This friend was at one time my best friend. Unlike the movie, we didn't meet in childhood, we met as adults. He was newly separated from his wife, and I was a single mother of a two year old. There was an instant attraction and an instant friendship - later we were much more than friends. Within a few months, I realized that my friend was still very much in love with his wife. I backed up from the relationship, first because I truly loved him as a friend, and secondly because of my respect for the sacrament of marriage. If he wanted to save his marriage and reclaim his family, I also wanted that for him. I loved him enough to let him go and be happy.
We remained friends, but when he and his wife divorced our relationship eventually resumed.

Our friendship was really special. We laughed a lot. Mostly at each other and ourselves. Everyone felt that we were destined to be together, but things did not work out that way. Through the on and off love relationship as well as both of us getting married and then divorced, our friendship remained strong. We could talk about anything, from the details of intimacy, to politics, to the details of our childhood along with our dreams and fears. At that time there seemed to be a great deal of mutual respect and no judgment.

I know you are wondering as many have already; what happened, why didn't this have a happy ending. I was young and and some ways immature and my friend needed a woman that wasless independent. There was a happy ending, just not the one everyone expected.

An older woman once told me that it is a smart woman that knows how to be independent and dependent at the same time. Understanding that a man's nature is to provide for and protect what he deems to be in his care.

Well our friendship is starting to change at a time when I now understand what it means to be independent and dependent at the same time. My friend now seems to need a woman that is even more dependent than before; more dependent on him and less dependent on her self. I am not that woman.

I have become more dependent on myself than ever before. Not that I don't need anyone else, but I have learned to trust my feelings and my thoughts more than I have in the past.
We have grown in opposite directions. I guess this is what it means to grow apart.

Let The Jackson Family Heal

Are you not tired of all of the media about Michael Jackson's death. I wish they would all just let it go and let that family heal. I watched the interview on Larry King with Jermaine Jackson and it really reminded me how the media sensationalizes everything. There is so much that the family does not know and also hear for the first time in the media. They are a family just like yours and mine that has suffered a great loss and just want time to come together as a family and handle their business.
I continue to keep them in my prayers, but I know that the media is not that gracious.

Walter Cronkite "Uncle Walt"

Walter Cronkite was the voice that is etched in my head from the time that I was a little girl. The news was something that my family and many African Americans families tuned into about twice a day. This was our way of being aware of what was going on in our country. It was also the time of the civil rights movement with two of the most prominent and well loved figures of our history, Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. It was normal for African American families to gather in front of the television after dinner as a family to watch Walter Cronkite. He was trusted by our community to report fairly and truthfully what was happening during this time; the 60's. A time when African Americans were fighting so hard for racial equality in a country that brought us here, but wanted to keep up 2nd class citizens and less than human, segregated from those that thought of themselves as more human. Even at two years old I watched the news, and was told by my family that I was watching the day that President Kennedy was assassinated and called to them in the kitchen telling them that "President Kennedy was shot" and they came running. My mother says that I was talking before I was walking, and I have yet to slow down.

This was a time when families were still families, and they had dinner together and watched the news together, we all watched " Uncle Walt" because our parents and grandparents watched and trusted his reporting.


In 1940 Cronkite married Mary Maxwell, who was his wife for 65 years until her passing in 2005.

Walter Cronkite defined what it meant to be an anchorman.
The first radio news broadcast was in 1938 and the first television news broadcast was in 1948, but it was not until 1963 when the three largest networks, NBC, CBS and ABC extended their news coverage from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.

On March 6th, 1981 Walter Cronkite delivered his last news broadcast for CBS, and was replaced by Dan Rather.

Walter Cronkite will always be remember and we greatly appreciated his work.
photos taken from LA Times

Still Controversial after Death

It amazes me how Michael Jackson is still such a controversial figure. Why is it necessary to know who are the biological parents of his adopted children, when in many cases we have gone to great lengths to conceal this exact information.

Whether he chose not to use his sperm because of fear of passing on his genetic misfortune to his children or he wanted to create his own children is nothing different than what many others do. Science is even to the point where you are able to chose the gender of your child if you chose. Why does it matter? He is legally thier father and that is all that matters. He is the only parent that they know and they certain appear to be happy well adjusted and very bright children.

Why is it important if he bleached his skin because he wanted to be lighter or he had undergone some medical procedure for vitiligo. He had the money and the connections to do what ever it is that he chose to do. It is no different than many others bleaching their skin, changing their nose, breast implant, calf implants, etc.

Who is to say that his life was strange? By whose standards? Why are we always imposing our standards on others? It is just sickening how this is all playing out.


Bill O'Reilly and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Ph.D. debates the racial issues in reference to Michael Jackson. As usual O'Reilly doesn't let a person disagree with him on his show even though he calls them on to debate an issue.
It appears when it comes to people of color there are always racial issues, and as Dr. Hill says, it is not always racism, but always racial.

I will leave you a post by a blogger for The Root, by Jimi Izrael, entitled, Now He's Home.
This post is beautifully written and were my exact sentiments of familiarity of MJ's memorial service. Even though I was not there and merely watching it on television as were millions of others, the tone and the program was so much like many I had been to, just on a grander scale.

Michael Jackson Will Never Be Forgotten

Gone Too Soon by Michael Jackson



The news of Michael Jackson's death traveled faster than the speed of light. It was reported that text messages were sent at a rate of 65,000 per second all across the world.


















People were gathering at UCLA hospital, his star on Hollywood Blvd. his family home in Encino, California, his present residence in Holmby Hills, California, the Apollo Theatre in New York City, and many many other places around the globe. The people are in shock and are very sad at the news of his death. The television programming came to a hault with breaking news of his death, and there was no more regular programming on most channels for the rest of the day.

I started this post on the day of his death but it is now three days later and there are still some cable channels that are running his videos all day long. For at least two consecutive days the television has been dominated by Michael Jackson, his life, his legacy, and unfortunately his troubles. I learned things while being glued to the television that I didn't know, and the one thing that resonates the most is that Michael is in the Guiness Book of World Records for contributing to the most charities of any celebrity. He gave millions of dollars to 39 charities. He donated his five million dollars earned on the Victory Tour to three different charities. This was the concert of the century


Michael not only made his mark as the King of Pop, but also as a Humanitarian. He broke color barriers around the world, he brought issues of inhumane practices around the world to the forefront,i,e, homelessness, hunger, sickness, and AIDS, and he spent a great deal of his time and money to help eradicate these issues for as many as he could. His favorite of all was sick children. He spent a great deal of his own money paying hospital bills of terminally ill children as well as helping their families, and granting the wishes of these children. Many of these children only wished to meet him, and that he did and more. He truly made the world a better place.



This was a great man that gave so much of himself to people of all races, of all colors, of all religions, and of all nationalities, and unfortunately he got a lot of dirt kicked in his face. There are many that are grateful for all of the sacrifices that he has made to be who he was.

It is hard to know where to start. Just remembering when I first saw The Jackson 5 on the Ed Sullivan Show when I was a little girl. The first concert they had in Savannah, Georgia when I was 12 years old and how my mother made my dress and I wore my first Afro. I took pictures of this concert with my instamatic camera and they were moving so fast on that stage that the picture came out a colorful blur. When I talked to Michael on the phone the next day after the concert, because he was staying at the Desoto Hilton, and I knew someone that worked there that put me through. How my bedroom was covered in posters of Michael and the Jackson 5. How I knew the words to every song, by stopping the record many times to write them down. This was before the days when they published the lyrics. When there were many neighborhood kids starting singing groups to be the next Jackson 5. It was an amazing time, and I didn't believe that it could get any more amazing, but little did I know. That this little fellow would later become the biggest thing the music industry has ever seen.




As he grew so did his message to the world. Some of these messages were of his loneliness and pain, and often addressed to those that continued to conflict this pain upon him. Then there were those beautiful messages that appeal to the heart, that appealed to all of mankind, to right the wrongs in this world. He challenged us to be kinder to one another, to reach out to those that needed us, to speak for those that had no voice, to just be HUMAN. He was a man that felt deeply the pain of others, because he felt deeply his own pain. I have learned when you are one that feels the hurt of what is going on in the world it becomes heavy and that heaviness often times becomes physical. His music was the only thing that made him happy, truly happy. Michael enjoyed children not only because he missed out on his own childhood, but because of their innocence, they were not tainted by hatred and prejudice, they experienced pure joy from life and that is always what he wanted to be around. That too made him a target for those that harbored hatred and greed.


Michael Jackson's Humanitarian Efforts 1979-2003

I want to thank Michael for what he gave to the world, for the joy he has given me in growing up in the same generation as he did, therefore allowing me to grow with him. Michael Joe Jackson, you are truly loved by many all over the world and you will be missed.

May You Rest in Peace my brother!

Update

July 7, 2009

Today was the memorial of Michael Joseph Jackson and it was the most touching thing that I have ever seen. It was beautifully done and it most definitely showed the world the human side of MJ, and that is something the world needed to see. Even though he was greatly loved by his fans for his music, but many never saw him with his family or his family with him. Today they got to see MJ as a child of God, a son, a brother, an uncle, a father, and a friend.
I never knew that the passing of a man that I didn't personally know would effect me the way that it has, but it has. I believe that God gave MJ not just the gift of music, but also the gift of love. The gift, as Brooks Shield put it, to see with his heart. It must have been a beautiful thing just to know him, I am thankful to know him from afar, and thankful to live in this time when he was (A) Present.






Michael Jackson's children

Los Angeles Parade: Celebrating the Lakers Win

Yesterday while watching the local news the topic at the moment was the Laker's Championship Parade to be held in city of Los Angeles. They were discussing the costs involved in putting on this display of support for this highly esteemed basketball team. The Lakers has contributed 1 million dollars to this effort but there is over a million dollars still needed to make sure that this even is nothing short of what the fans and the team expects.
There has been an effort to cut back on these expenses and shorting the parade route was one way to do that.
Mayor Villaraigosa has been soliciting private donations to cover the city's possible expense for the celebratory event and says that he has raised several hundred thousand dollars. He knows the people would be outraged if he were to spend city's money on this event when there are so many people out of work, so many programs being cut, the threat of teacher layoffs, the insistence of government employees taking furloughs, as well as the enormous deficit that is at the forefront of the minds of those mostly effected.
I became irate at the thought of the city paying any of the taxpayers monies for this celebration. Any type of celebration is a welcome distraction and is actually needed to uplift the spirit of so many that are effected by our present economic situation, both as a city and as a country, but the idea of the city even paying a dine for this was just more than I could wrap my head around. It is a relief to know that this city and its officials are not insensitive.

Update: Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The mayor came through. All of the monies that the city would have paid for the parade today is being taken care of by the business community. Americans come through again for their own.

Wake Up Everybody

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Jesse Jackson, Jr., Not His Father

This young man is something to watch. I have recently noticed his intelligence and dedication throughout Barack's presidential campaign, and he is a pleasure to see. I have never been too fond of his father, therefore, I had no interest in the son. He is more like Barack than he is his father. I am very impressed with the young black leaders of today They are well educated, intelligent, family oriented, and rooted in the black community. Most importantly they realize the importance of the "We". They realize that we live in a much more diverse America, the backgrounds of the people are more diverse, our neighborhoods are more diverse, and one person's ethnicity is more diverse, and they are no longer willing to choose one ethnicity over the other. Those people who have one parent of one ethnicity and another parent of another ethnicity are tired of feeling that they don't belong and that they have to identify with one part of them over the other. Tiger Woods made this clear during his rise in the golf world, and Barak is making it clear now. They maybe rooted in the black community because of how the world sees them, but they no longer want to have to choose. This is the new America. As a people we are reaching out to other cultures, learning their language and how to cook their food, we are diverse, and we want a leadership that understands that, and one that will bridge the gap. We have now brought together people of all cultural backgrounds and now Barack's next responsibility is to bridge the socio-economic gap, and he has decided to start by taking care of the middle class. As the middle class Americans rise, we will bring along the lower middle-class, and this gap that was made larger by the Bush Administration will start to close.
It is a beautiful thing to watch.
Barack Obama is our first Black President of the United States, but I don't think that he is going to be the last; Jesse Jackson, Jr. also has what it takes. He is already pegged the Congressman most likely to take Barack's abandoned Senate seat, and will one day take an abandoned presidential seat. You do your thing young brother.


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WOW! An endorsement by the most respected Republican in all the Land

Sunday, Colin L. Powell endorsed Barack H. Obama for the next President of the United States. He believes that either candidate would make a good president, but Obama is what America needs today. He criticizes McCain on his campaign tactics as well as his choice for a running mate. He also criticizes his party on their swing further to the right in which Palin has become instrumental. Powell admits that he was for the war with the information that he was provided but it just has not worked and it needs to be corrected. Some want to call him a traitor for crossing party lines and others want to say that he crossed these lines merely on race. This is such an insult to such a highly respected man, and is ridiculous for anyone to think that a man with his background would let race alone play any part in his decision to endorse a presidential candidate. I have always had a great deal of respect for Colin Powell, the man and the leader. I greatly respect his opinions and the eloquent way in which he expresses them.
The beauty he saw in a photo essay he came across on the Muslim-America, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, a fallen soldier of the Iraqi War, now buried in Arlington Cemetery at the tender age of 20, further exemplifies, the wisdom and the insite of this great man.. It didn't matter if Khan was Muslim or not when he went to fight for this country against terrorism that destroys the fiber of freedom everywhere. The story he told of this young man once again reiterates the fact that the differences among us is not the issue, and that we are more alike than we are different.

Powell expressed his admiration for both presidential candidates but believe Obama to be what America needs at this time. Powell recognizes Obama's ability to inspire people, reach across racial, ethnic, religious, generational, and social line. He highlights Obama's rhetorical abilities, and the substance as a leader and as a man.
This is what Powell endorses. He has only known Obama for the past couple of years and he mentions that he has watched Obama educate and ready himself for the most important job in America, that as President. For these reasons and these reasons alone is why Powell believes Obama to be the right man for the job. Powell describes Obama as a transformational figure, and transformation is what we need, we need his freshness.
McCain describes Bill Ayers, the man that he is trying so hard to link Obama with, as a "washed up terriorist" and I describe McCain as a "washed up POW" and this experience does not give him what is needed to run this country, other than further into the ground.
No Obama will not be able to make the necessary changes with lightening speed, but he will put in place a team that will work their hardest to make the changes needed to get America back on top where she belongs. Why, because smart people knows how to surround themselves with a strong team that has the level of experience and expertise that he can draw from, and that is evident in his choice of a running mate.






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The Last Presidential Debate, Still Too Close for Comfort

Tonight, the debate was held at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, New York, which is where I attended college. It was actually hard to watch. The lies that McCain is steadily allowed to tell about Obama is amazing. These statements have been consistently corrected in commentary, but he continues to perpetuate them and attack the man personally. The America people want to hear what the candidates plan to do, especially with this economy. The other major issues being the war in Iraq, the education of our children so they are able to compete in this world, and health care. McCain continues to skim these issues and makes taxes the main issue of his platform other than bashing Obama.

There seems to be a great deal of people that have switched parties, because of the most recent Republican regime. When Bush took office this country had a financial surplus, and now the deficit is out of reach. The economy is headed toward a serious depression, and we are bailing out big business and letting the little man sink. It appears as though it was not until these financial institutions started to suffer from all of the bad mortgages, that the federal government publicly acknowledge that there was a serious problem. This alone is quite a disappointment, and I can't imagine what this country would be like if McCain is the next president, and with the polls being as close as it is, anything is possible here in America.
As much as I want Obama to be our next president, I am quite concerned for his life. He is too young and has too much to offer this country for him to be snuffed out like that. Then there is the obvious, his wife being widowed and their two girls growing up without their father, as so many of the families of our promising leaders have had to do; i.e., John Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Medger Evers, and Malcom X, just to name a few.
I am aware that Obama is not going to be able to turn this country around easily or rapidly, but I believe that he will make enough of a difference for the American people to take note and benefit over the long term.
I don't think that I can handle another republican in office and especially the likes of John McCain. Leaving this country and becoming an expatriate is definitely an option for me and many others that I have spoken with. Where will I go, I am not sure at this time, but somewhere where the cost of living as well as the quality of life is much better. I always hear that there is no other place like America, and I am not able to speak on that, because I have never lived any where else. I am quite interested in finding out, especially if McCain gets into the White House.


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