Troy

Kam and I usually don't agree on movies. This one is no exception. I simply did not like Gravity as much as I liked Interstellar. I saw Gravity in Imax the visuals were great, but once you get used to them you were just left, well with whats her name. Interstellar, by contrast, addressed many fascinating things like multiple dimensions, time dilation, relativity, black holes, worm holes and even love, yes it was a film about love. I thought it was really good flick. Kam gave Gravity 4 stars (his max) and this Interstellar 2, I would reverse those ratings. The point after Blast off is where the film really gets really good. They even have a cool Brother in this flick unlike Gravity which represents yet another film where Black folk are not in the future. The wormhole Kam mentioned did not go to a parallel university, just a far away place in this one... at any rate I thought the flick was pretty good, probably the most interesting one I saw all of last year. This is a must see flick for anyone interested in space travel, science or just good cinema.

Interstellar DVD Review by Kam Williams Rated PG-13 for intense action and brief profanity Running time: 168 minutes Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors, and four of his pictures have made my annual Top Ten List, including Memento, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and Insomnia. However, I had a hard time understanding exactly what was going on in Inception, an inscrutable mindbender that I found to be a little too hip for the room. The same could be said about Interstellar, an over-plotted, post-apocalyptic sci-fi with a few too many layers for its own good, in this critic’s humble opinion. Clocking in at a patience-testing 169 minutes, the movie had me harking back to 7-time Oscar-winner Gravity, a similarly-themed outer space adventure which managed to resolve its loose ends in about half the time. At the point of departure, we find the Earth devastated by drought and dust storms that have brought it to the brink of famine. With the planet almost uninhabitable, NASA decides that the last hope for humanity rests in finding another capable of supporting life. To that end, the agency is mounting a mission, codenamed Lazarus in order to search for a place with a compatible environment. The reluctant hero is Coop (Matthew McConaughey), a man understandably torn about being coaxed out of retirement to captain the Spaceship Endurance. On the one hand, the veteran test pilot is eager, since he never got a chance to experience a real spaceflight during his career. On the other hand, as a widowed dad, he hates the very idea of leaving behind and possibly orphaning his already motherless kids. Sure, 15 year-old Tom (Timothee Chalamet) might be able to man-up, but daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) is only 10 and proves particularly clingy when he informs her of his imminent travel plans. Her angry reaction is perfectly reasonable, given the blight on Earth and the odds of ever seeing her papa again. But with his father-in-law’s (John Lithgow) blessing, Coop nevertheless opts to depart, which affords him an opportunity to belatedly pursue his lifelong dream. Joining him in that endeavor is a crew comprised of brainy scientist Brand (Anne Hathaway), astrophysicist Romilly (David Gyasi) and intergalactic cartographer Doyle (Wes Bentley), as well as a couple of very sophisticated robots (Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart). After blastoff, they head for a distant wormhole near Saturn rumored to provide a portal to a parallel universe. At this juncture, the picture turns terribly talky, relying on pseudoscientific claptrap to explain every farfetched development from black holes to unusual gravitational pulls to time slowing down. Eventually, Endurance rendezvous with a NASA space station stranded on a remote planet where they rouse the sole survivor from a cryogenic sleep only to discover it’s Matt Damon. How cool is that? I’m not too proud to admit I couldn’t follow the convoluted storyline anymore from about this point forward. At least the panoramic visuals remained absolutely breathtaking. Think, a remake of Gravity only featuring plenty of polysyllabic brainiacs who sound like they just stepped off the set of The Big Bang Theory. Good (2 stars) To order a copy of Interstellar on Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack,

From the Gary Hardwick files

Yes, it is true that we are being manipulated in many aspects of our daily lives. My focus on the media is that we are being lied to by the media, that really is the form of manipulation I'm concerned about. If I inform someone that they have been lied to, that is not telling them what to think, or an attempt to manipulate them. It is an attempt to help them. Of course this is not for purely altruistic reasons. I think Black people would be better off understanding we are being manipulated. Indeed if White people were aware of this too, perhaps they could get past thinking Black people are inherently inferior. The things Bill Cosby spoke about in the video above have not changed. I think I can make a good argument that things have gotten worse since that video was made almost 50 years ago. Interestingly, the intended target for this video was children. The video does not talk down to them. I guess today you'd need to craft the message as a music video... But as you know Cosby has dedicated his life to helping children learn more about their history and to do well in life. His decades long collaboration with Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. is one such example. In this book, we look at the issues with an eye on what we need to do to help our youth and re-energize our neighborhoods to move in positive directions' We can change things we have control over if we accept personal responsibility and embrace self-help." --Bill Cosby We need more people with resources doing this work, not fewer...

Cancelled your account for selling you own stuff? I've sold tickets to events, on PayPal, then AFTER the event people would request a refund and PayPal would refund the money?! Yeah I've been using Square more lately. They also have a nicer interface. I plan to migrate to Square from PayPal.

I asked White House correspondent April Ryan a bunch of questions about Barack Obama

I'm not a psychiatrist so I won't debate the meanings of the technical terms. It is unfortunate you dismiss people's academic credentials so easily. I actually got a taste of that when you dismissed my engineering degree when talking about sampling rates. Dr. Mcintosh is a psychiatrist, but obviously, as you wrote, these credentials don't make a difference to you. I did not address Cosby's joke directly because it was a joke. No one reasonable, would hold up a joke as proof that Cosby is some as serious as a serial rapist. Again I as you Del, what specifically did Bill Cosby actually do that you think is worthy of the blitz of negative media? But more importantly what else, in your opinion, should we do to Bill Cosby that would satisfy you? Should we get a rope and drag him from the back of a pick up, or sting him up from a tree? What?

Harry, you better get used to the idea of a Republican president. They own the House and the Senate, and unless the Grand Ole Party throws up complete losers, like Palin, they should win the presidency quite handily, despite what Blacks folks do, which of course will be to vote Democratic. I shudder to think what our military will do once the GOP controls everything. I'll probably cast my vote on 3rd party candidate. I really wish presidents were elected based upon a popular vote.

Del your position on Cosby is clear. While the media is pilling on about how Cosby is a serial rapist I'd figure I do my small part to balance the perspective. Of course you are right. "If it bleeds it leads," as far as the so called news is concerned. Just keep in mind that mentality have never served anyone well except the media conglomerates--least of all Black people. Cynique, actually I do not think the general public truly understands how easily we are manipulated by the media. They not only mis-inform us they tell us what to think. Even when we are presented with amazing truths, like some of the revelations made public by Eric Snowden, we still don't seem to care. I guess as long as we are not staving, and have Empire to watch we are pretty much placated,

For almost a decade a few buddies and myself have a March Madness Pool. Over the last several years we have been using PayPal to send the entry fee. I already take it for granted that PayPal mines all our transactions for information. Perhaps the information they obtain is a revenue stream. But when they read our messages and arbitrary decide what is an acceptable transaction they have overstepped their bounds, on so many levels. When I send someone a check, Citibank does not email me to say, "Hey we don't approve of the reason for you writing a check, stop it." This is absurd!

Yeah that is how media works Del. We know all of the miscellaneous accusations of rape against Cosby, but his humanitarianism is largely overlooked--even by the popular Black media, which Black people don't own.

We can certainly agree that Bill is not two dimensional, indeed no one is. I'm not a psychologist (although the Dr. McIntosh arguing for Bill Cosby being lynched is) so I won't attempt to diagnose him. Del you say Bill may have felt like he did nothing wrong. I no idea what Bill's feelings are on behavior that he allegedly engaged, I'm not sure how you would know either. I won't even assume I know which characteristics of Bill's personality he is aware of, but given his advanced age I suspect he is more self aware that most. You describe Bill as a sociopath. There are degrees to everything. I think sociopathy has degrees as well. It is not like you are a sociopath or you are not. Perhaps Bill has some degree of sociopathy? I don't know. People accuse him of not caring what his wife may have been feeling, but I'm not privy to the nature of there relationship. I don't think a sociopath would bother producing a film like the one below: A sociopath would not produce the Cosby Show, or Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. I not sure if you are aware of all material and meaningful things Bill did for Black people. Hummm maybe you are and don't care. Let me ask this question. What specifically did Bill Cosby actually do that you think is worthy of the blitz of negative media? NBC and Netflix have both canned projects with Cosby that I'm sure would have been much more positive for Black people than the programing we have now, like Empire. Bill has resigned from the Temple's board; other colleges, like Spelman have ended their relationships with him. Even the U.S. Navy, a bastion for rape, has revoked an honorary title they gave Bill. Who knows how many appearances that have been canceled? All of this based solely on accusations?! Since when has a white woman ever had to be afraid to accuse a Black man of rape? There have been many Black men strung up for having consensual sex with white women. There have been many Black men sent to jail and killed for white women simply making the accusation.

It was interesting reading the reaction on social media about this book. While it seems people are willing to explore the possibility that organized Christian religion has problems. The idea that the practice of Christianity itself may actually be the problem, does not seem to occur to folks. Christianity started 2,000 years ago, but Homo Sapiens were running around 200,000 years before that and were certainly practicing other religions 100,000 years before Christ. I guess this is a Blue-Dress-Gold-Dress (BDGD) kinda thing. Some people will believe their religion is the "True" religion while at the same time steadfastly condemning all other religions. Even when their own religion exposes itself as flawed, they claim that it is not the religion, but a faulty practice of, or bad actors in said religion.

If is funny how much that Blue-Dress-Gold-Dress controversy has effected my world view. It is just so much easier for me to accept that people are simply wired differently. Reason can not change their minds, their biology makes this so. What does this have to do with Dr. Ben? Well I always viewed people like Dr. Ben as heroes. People who should be revered, not worshipped, but respected and held up as people we can learn from. Instead we devote time, efforts, and money promoting and elevating the uninformed opinions of Black celebrities, simply because they are celebrities. I now understand why others simply can not understand why elevating the words of a Kanye West and overlooking the words of a Dr. Ben is a profound mistake on the part of the Black media.

Dr. Yosef “Dr. Ben” Ben-Jochannan Born in Gondar, Ethiopia, Dr. Yosef Alfredo Antonio ben-Jochannan, or “Dr. Ben”(December 31, 1918 - March 19, 2015), as he is affectionately known) has devoted the better part of his life to the illumination of the indigenous origins of African civilizations. By profession, he is a trained lawyer, engineer, historian and Egyptologist. Ben-Jochannan went to Egypt for the first time in 1939, and moved to Harlem, New York in 1945. Dr. Ben knew Malcolm X personally, and was a student and colleague of George G.M. James. He was exceptionally close to the late Dr. John Henrik Clarke. Since 1957, he has coordinated regular study tours and pilgrimages to the Nile Valley, directly exposing thousands of African people to the still visible splendors of ancient Egypt. Formerly adjunct professor at Cornell University's Africana Studies Department, Dr. ben-Jochannan has also been a professor-at-large at Al Azar University in Cairo. Learn more about this great man.

I'm reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind I'm about 20% of the way through the book but it is a fascinating read about the history of humanity. What we have been taught in school does not scratch the surface...

Brain Williams--Lynched, The Frat boys chanting nigger--Lynched. Jimmy The Greek--Lynched. There is no shortage of white people being lynched. But since I'm an advocate for Black people those are the cases I tend to bring up. The other problem is white folks don't always get lynched (Woodie Allen), Black always get lynched when the opportunity exists (indeed they can even manufacture a reason if necessary). I'm not suggesting anyone should be lynched. But I do find it very problematic when other Black people (including myself at times), fall for the media driven okie doke and lynch our own as we are manipulated into doing. Why don't we start lynching some people, like Woodie Allen. We don't because we simply don't have the power to do it. Why don't we STOP the lynching of Brothers like the Central Park Five? Again, the same is the same we don;t have the power. The Central Park five are now looking at a multimillion dollar settlement due largely in part to the effort of Ken Burns and his Daughter. Black folks have been fighting since day one, but I believe the Burn's family, film and book helped make the difference. I too have much more sympathy for the young defenseless Brothers, than I do for someone of Cosby's magnitude. I feel differently because Bill Cosby has lived a long and fantastically successful life (serial adultery aside), countless young Brothers lynched by the police, the media, and even our own people, never had, or will get a chance, at a descent life. It is very sad... OJ will be very fortunate if he gets out of prison alive.

Harry Brown here is a book right up your alley. Praedamus Let Us Prey Selling Heaven: It’s All An Illusion “Religion plays an important part in most people’s lives… Many of us have absolute and often blind faith in the churches we attend. But is such dedication and unconditional loyalty well-founded, or even smart? Is it good for people to live their fragile lives based on stories told to them by someone who is not an informed, trusted family member, or a loyal and devoted friend? Why have Christian churches kept their members in the dark for over 2,000 years? What did the church hierarchy actually know that wasn’t being shared? And why does the church continue to keep secrets, and will that always be the case? Let Us Prey takes a brief look at organized religion and its attendant, ominous consequences. It is an attempt to help you understand and appreciate how and why your secular world and spiritual world work, or do not work.” —Don Spears, Excerpted from the Preface (pages 11-12) Read Kam's Review

I'm not sure that someone with a lighter complexion is more susceptible to acne; it could be that it is just easier to see. Yeah I guess the issue of hair is a loaded one. As someone who is male, has never taken much interesting in styling his own hair, and currently sports a baldie-bean, I'm not sure how qualified I am to speak on the subject. Opinions aside, we clearly spend a lot of time and money on hair. I think we spend too much money, and most of what we spend is directed by market forces we don't take the time to consider. It would also be interesting to know what percentage of the Black hair care industry's profits goes into the pockets of Black people.

FYI: The National Book Awards entry form will be available exclusively online at nationalbook.org from April 1, 2015 to May 15, 2015.

Here is a video of the Is Bill Cosby Being Lynched, Yes or No? debate. This is not the entire program, so you will not hear all the arguments. After listening to the arguments. I would agree that Bill Cosby has been lynched, by the media and in reaction by many of us. Lynched, meaning being punished outside the judicial process. After Beverly Johnson came out with another allegation I condemned Bill myself. At the time I could not understand why someone like Whoopi Goldberg would fail to be unmoved. But now I understand why Whoopi has chosen to reserve judgement until these allegation have been proven and not hop on the Bill-Cosby-is-a-serial-rapist bandwagon, like most of us. I have a lot more respect for Whoopi because, for a Black woman, that can not be a popular stance. Yes, I appreciate Whoopi may be friends with Bill. Black people have a LONG history in the country to vilifying Black men. I remember quite well the Central Park Five case. I still see a couple of the young men who were crucified in the media around the neighborhood. I can only image what it would have been like if this incident happened in the social media age. Black people should know more than anyone how the media, for the sake a creating a revenue generating story will drag a Brother through the mud with mere rumors and allegations. The Black media, should know better, and should do more to squash these stories and put things into perspective. But too often they too are too busy chasing a buck too.

Hummm... It is hard to write this without coming across as disparaging Lupita. But how in the world can we even understand each other if we can not even agree on terms. Lupita has the stereotypical garden variety boyish build, flat chested and narrow hipped. If she does not have a boyish physique, then I do not know who does. This reminds me of the conversation with Nah'Sun who described some women as "thick" that clearly fit the textbook definition of morbidly obese ("thick" is a desirable, attractive quality) Now I appreciate every guy has different preferences, which is perfectly natural. It is great to find Lupita attractive (many do) but to suggest her build is anything but boyish, seems defy reasoning. Is this another one of those blue-dress-gold-dress type of things, where I see boyish while others see voluptuous?

I not holding my breath waiting for a more accurate visual representation on the world on maps. Besides, 90% of the world lives in the northern hemisphere; the folks in the south are too few to be concerned with.

Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed [1968] host Bill Cosby shares several accomplishments that have not always been fully or properly covered in the history books. The achievements of important historical figures are discussed. (54 minutes) “It’s 300 years we’ve been in this American melting pot, and we haven’t been able to melt in yet, and it’s a long wait. Listen, we’ve been trying all kinds of parts to make the American scene. We've been trying to play it straight and white, but it’s been just bit parts. Now from now on, we’re going to play it Black AND American, because we are proud of both, hubris.” —Bill Cosby Notice the subdued anger Cosby shows as he narrates this film. This flick would be powerful today, as I'm willing to wager many Black folks today are unaware of the information related in the film. I can only imagine the reaction back in 1968. What is most surprising to me as the I was completely unaware of this film until yesterday, when I learned about it during the debate about Bill Cosby being lynched in reaction to his numerous rape allegations. This DVD is available from Amazon.

Cynique--absolutely! Corporations target all women. I'm sure you've noticed all the hair extensions white women have been wearing lately. White, however, can more easily approach the gold standard of beauty than Black women, and I suspect are under much less stress as a result. Many Black women (of all classes) spend a great deal of time and money going through all the different hairstyles, like the characters in Empire. Of course the these fictional characters, on Empire, make it look make it look easy, cause they never show them spending 3 or 4 hours languishing in a salon on a Saturday afternoon. It is sad, to see more men headed down the same path. I'm glad I started shaving my head several years ago. Makes life really simple. I agree about Lupita, she makes me think of newer version of Alex Wek.