Troy

Salena, don't mind Chris he is a cool brother. He is honest and direct and that is often mistaken for being insulting in the online world. Still, you did not post the link to your website (a Blog is a website).

Chris I hear you Chris but the problems I'm talking about are national, and are true in virtually any place where there are large concentrations of Black folks. So New York and Memphis are in the same boat--for the same reasons. I used to visit Raleigh, NC as a kid. No one locked anything. Kids could leave their bikes on the lawn, get up the next morning, and their bikes would still be there! Coming from New York City I could not believe it, but I loved the stress free living. Today the same houses have multiple locks and still get broken into. It is so very sad... OK so Memphis is the land of opportunity. Indeed you make me wanna move there. Memphis is a much easier place to get by, but yet, problems persist. Crime was nonexistent 40 years ago. You tell me then, what changed and why? Did the people should become criminals and stop going to school for no reason in the last 40 years? Chris you assert that people just need do what they need to do. So why are they not doing it Chris? ------- Across the street from the Stax Museum, in Memphis is (or was) a supermarket. The first thing you see is a huge lottery booth, The mean section had chicken feet and a few other low grade cuts of meat, scrabble, Bologna and the like--nothing was appealing. There was a rows of jugs of plastic juice of every color imaginable; red, blue, purple, green. I just went in there to grab a quick snack. But I was so surprised by what I saw, I went back out and told the wife and kids, you gotta check this super market out. It was like a ghetto bodega on steroids. I'd never seen anything like it. It was run by what appeared to be Chinese people all the customers were Black. --------- Man I hate when I lose a long post! The same thing can happen in virtually any ap. When I find that I writing something long and I don't want to risk losing it, or I've started writing something and I have to come back to it. I save it in a separate file like my email program. Sometimes I'll just go head and save the comment I have not complete finished. Unfortunately you can save a draft of a comment. The same used to happen to me on Facebook, but I no longer write anything long enough to care about loosing when my browser crashes

I guess the main difference between what I see as the "root problem" and what Chris and Harry see as the root problem is this; I see the root problem as racism, the primary tool of those in control. You all see the problem as Black people not doing what is necessary to make it. What you two fail to realize is that our dysfunctional behavior is a direct result of racism. Do you think Black people choose not be be educated, live in the worst conditions and fill up the prisons? Sure Chris, I sent two kids to college; in fact, I paid for their education from nursery school. My wife and I paid dearly for this, sacrificing a great deal. Sure I have a business, but I no longer earn enough make it in the big city without having to teach on the side. I'm sacrificing a great deal for something I believe is important to our community. If we did not live in a racist society I would not be running AALBC.com. I would be doing something far more lucrative. If we lived in a society that cared about educating Black children, I would not have had to pay, through the nose, to have my kids educated. Obviously I (we) could all go on, and on, about how hard living in a racist society is for Black people. The idea that all we have to do is, is do the right thing is fatally flawed. Of course we have to do the right thing, but ignoring the hostile environment we live in, expecting our good behavior to make a difference is naive. Besides we can observe the results of this belief. We all know smart Black people who failed, or are even in jail. We all know mediocre white folks achieving great things, like becoming President of the US, Governor of Alaska, etc. It does no matter very much what we do, until we do something about the folks in control. Otherwise we will not see anything beyond token benefits for a few (celebrities, athletes, or those working directly for those in control), while the majority of us are largely shut out, blaming ourselves and each other.

Del, here are my numbers 8 - 6 - 9. My question is, when will I achieve some of my goals. Cynique, you don't have to pay to run a website. This website that I use with my students: http://cis3630.byethost14.com/ is completely free to run. If anything you'd want to register a domain name, but that should cost less that 10 bucks a year. If you are interested in starting the process, visit: http://domainsforauthors.com/ and sign up for "free hosting." I can give you the rest of the steps once you setup the free website. I could do it for you, but it will be better if you go through the process.

Independent Lens Premieres Two New Documentaries in February for Black History Month National Guardsman escorting man around the time of a race riot in East St. Louis, June 6, 1917 (Credit: Bettman/CORBIS) This February, Independent Lens presents two provocative new documentaries that take a fresh look at not only the African American experience but the ongoing question of the meaning of race in America. The first documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present, Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People premieres on Monday, February 16, 2015, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET (check local listings). Directed by Thomas Allen Harris, the film probes the recesses of American history through images that have been suppressed, forgotten and lost. Bringing to light the hidden and unknown photos shot by both professional and vernacular African American photographers, the film opens a window into the lives of black families, whose experiences and perspectives are often missing from the traditional historical canon. These images show a much more complex and nuanced view of American culture and society and its founding ideals. Inspired by Reflections in Black by author Deborah Willis, the film features the works of Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Anthony Barboza, Hank Willis Thomas, Coco Fusco, Clarissa Sligh, and many others. How do we explain the disconnect between what we believe and what we practice in what some have called a "post-racial" America? American Denial explores this question through the prism of a landmark 1944 inquiry into Jim Crow segregation conducted by Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal for the Carnegie Commission. His question: How could a people who cherish freedom and fairness also create such a racially oppressive society? Seventy years later, American Denial juxtaposes Myrdal's investigation with current stories of racial injustice that are often overlooked in our national insistence on the preeminence of the ideals of liberty, justice, and equality. Directed by Llewellyn Smith and produced by Christine Herbes-Sommers, Smith, and Kelly Thomson, American Denial premieres Monday, February 23, 2015, 10:00-11:00 pm. ET (check local listings). About Independent Lens Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS Monday nights at 10:00 p.m. The acclaimed series features documentaries united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of independent filmmakers. Presented by Independent Television Service, the series is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding from PBS and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. For more visit pbs.org/independentlens. Reenactment photo of young man getting frisked by cops (Credit: Zachary Stuart / Vital Pictures, Inc.)

This infographic is perfectly consistent with my data. I recently examined which entities published the most popular books read by African Americans. The top 5 corporations publish 80% of the book we read. 50% of what we are aren't even published by American owned corporations. Is it any wonder that African American novelists, get very little coverage in the media?

Thanks Chris. No internal struggle over social media. Maybe she can score a gig with them and flip that switch that will increase my engagement.

This is my youngest kid, who finishes at Williams and Mary this semester. I ask my kids about what's hot in the social media world. They are up on my world view regarding social media. Maybe this one will come work for me one day. Actually I'll probably end up working for her, the old guy in the corner responsible for maintaining the handful of legacy websites that have not been migrated to Facebook.

I know this is gonna come off like I'm just moving the target , but I did mean Black films. The Color Purple would definitely be an example of what I'm talking about, original music for a Black film (this is an excellent sound track too). When was the last time we did something like this for a film? Has there been anything in the last 5, 10 or even 15 years?

Sorry man I meant music created specifically for a film. I did watch Night Catches Us saturday evening. The film had a lot of good music in it, but most of it was from the period. The main tune the Roots created for the film was good, but can't be compared to the work Mayfield or Hayes created for their respective films. Again, my main point is that I'm not sure there has been any Black musician was has created original music for a film since the Blaxpoiltation era. Of course I could be wrong, but I'm sure the film, as with many of our indies, did nothing at the box office. I watched Red Hook Summer for the first time after watching Night Catches Us. I enjoyed Night us much more. I think Red Hook Summer had potential, but the story felt incomplete, the acting was uneven and humor fell flat. Spike showed up in the film still delivering pizzas as Mookie the character from Do the Right Thing, almost 25 years prior. Now one would think, that would be a nostalgic addition to the film, but I could not help but think, "Oh Brother." It was an unnecessary distraction. Overall the film did not have the feel of an major motion picture release. Kam and I are in agreement on this film's ranking.

Harry over time I've come to see this attitude as blaming the victim. Sure all those Blacks do to each other are reprehensible. Did you hear the part about how drugs were brought into the Black community? You can't treat people with utter contempt, for centuries, and not expect some dysfunction. If we don't appreciate the true cause of our problems things will never change--because we continue to treat the symptoms rather than dealing with the problem. In places like NYC the problems are obvious--it is too damn expensive for many Black people to live here. People are suffering, stressed out, and without hope for making things better. We need better schools, better housing, better food, and employment opportunities, before we can hope for any of this to change. NYC City used to build affordable housing for large numbers of people. Today most of the new housing stock goes to rich folks, many of whom don't even live in the City.

In the case of Shaft and Superfly, those sound tracks were scored for the film. But the Love Jones soundtrack was a bunch of songs that already existed and used in the film. The poetry was original (maybe) but most of the album was from various artists. The He Got Game sound track does not really count either, and actually reflects one of the things I dislike most about Rap; simply taking music and changing the lyrics. Night Catches Us, was a film that very few people saw in the theaters. I noticed it is on Netflix and Amazon prime so it can be watched for free. I actually have not seen the film and will check it out the first chance I get. I looks pretty good and has an original score, that sounds good in the trailer.

Hey Maxx welcome to the boards. Yes the book changed my impression of the genre. Maybe 50 years from now I'll look back at commercial rap music with rose colored glasses, Also I noticed your site has a few issues. The site http://www.ybandg.com/maxxkbooks/ is framed in such a way the the link to order your books don't work. It should work but it is not, probably has to do with the originating website. Also I can see the underlying URL's (you should read this article and note point #3 about affiliate Amazon affiliate codes). Cynique, several of my favorite Black films are from that era, Cooley High, Cotton Comes to Harlem, Claudine, Uptown Saturday Night, the sound track for Shaft and Superfly were simply great (do Black film even have original sound tracks anymore?). I could go on.

This book was never made available via Amazon (as far as I can tell. But you can buy it from Barnes & Noble and most other online retailers. It would be interesting to know why Amazon is not selling it.

The Center for Black Literature Medgar Evers College 1650 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11225 E: writers@mec.cuny.edu www.centerforblackliterature.org For Immediate Release Contact Info: Clarence V. Reynolds Center for Black Literature Creynolds@mec.cuny.edu 718-804-8881 Maeshay Lewis Center for Black Literature mlewis@mec.cuny.edu 718-804-8882 National Black Writers Conference 2015 Biennial Symposium “Voices of Liberation and Resistance and a Tribute to Actor and Activist Danny Glover” The rich tradition of literary activism among Black writers dates back to the work of Phillis Wheatley, the first recognized African-American poet in American literature; and it is represented in the works of iconic writers such as Amiri Baraka, Jayne Cortez, and Langston Hughes among many others. This tradition has continued to the present and includes the fiction, poetry and prose produced by Black writers during the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements. Focusing on activism, liberation, and resistance in literature and the arts, the 2015 National Black Writers Conference “Voices of Liberation and Resistance” will be held March 28, 2015; 10:-00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., on the campus Medgar Evers College (1650 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225). During the program, there will also be a special tribute to the work of actor and activist Danny Glover. Focusing on activism, liberation, and resistance in the arts, the 2015 NBWC Biennial Symposium explores this subject from different perspectives and offers an intergenerational perspective on the legacy of resistance and activism in the arts, with a special emphasis on how novelists, poets, playwrights, and screenwriters have addressed these themes through their work and through the roles they play. “There is a proverb that as long as we tell the stories of our ancestors and repeat their names, we keep them alive. We have to create venues and forums that enable us to keep the legacy, experiences and stories of those who came before us alive. And we have to ensure that the present generation understands the basis for carrying forward this tradition and is poised to do so. Through exploring the legacy of activism and resistance from varying perspectives, the 2015 NBWC can help to make this happen,” says, Dr. Brenda Greene, Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature. As the 2015 NBWC Biennial Symposium will focus on the subject of activism, liberation, and resistance in the arts, with a special focus on film and literature, the program will honor Danny Glover. Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Glover has dedicated himself to the development and production of films of historical relevance, social purpose, commercial value and artistic integrity, and he has a record of addressing issues of economic development and poverty in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. We applaud his legacy of paving the way for Black actors and filmmakers to create a presence in the film industry and of supporting a tradition of social consciousness and resistance among fellow artists and writers. The goal of the 2015 NBWC Biennial Symposium is to bring together an intergenerational group of writers and artists from various genres and include Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bridgett M. Davis, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Jamal Joseph, Haki Madhubuti, Kevin Powell, Sapphire, Askia Touré, and Jacqueline Woodson. Through panel discussions, readings, and a film presentation, the participants will engage the public in deep discussions of the legacy of activism and its impact on contemporary writers and artists and will examine the ways in which writers and artists use their work to raise public awareness of these issues. About the Program Ta-Nehisi Coates, a national correspondent for The Atlantic who writes about culture, politics, and social issues, will lay a foundation for the discussion. Coates’ discussion will be followed by a viewing of the film The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975, which is compiled from the footage of Swedish journalist Goran Hugo Olsson. The film samples very powerful voices from the 1960s and 1970s and injects contemporary commentary from older people who were involved with the movement and younger people (including Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, and Questlove [Amir Khalib Thompson] from The Roots) whose lives were changed by it. Kevin Powell, author of books on politics, culture and literature, and Jamal Joseph, writer, director, producer, poet, activist, and educator, will provide a critical response to the film; the audience will then participate in a Q and A with Powell and Joseph. The post-discussion will be followed by a panel of writers whose work examines the intersection of literature, politics, culture and activism. Panelists include writers Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr and Askia Touré from the Black Arts Movement, novelist and educator Bridgett M. Davis, and poet Thomas Sayers Ellis. Following the discussion will be select readings representing voices of liberation and resistance: National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson, Sapphire, and Thomas Sayers Ellis. The program will close with a keynote by the cultural and sociopolitical actor, activist, humanitarian, and producer Danny Glover. About the National Black Writers Conference Biennial Symposium The National Black Writers Conference is hosted every two years by the Center for Black Literature and our NBWC Biennial Symposium is hosted on alternate years. The symposium honors the life and work of a specific writer or artist. In the past, we have paid tribute to Toni Cade Bambara, Gwendolyn Brooks, Octavia Butler, August Wilson, John Oliver Killens, and Bob Marley. We believe strongly in educating the general public and students about the contributions of Black artists throughout the African diaspora. This work greatly ensures that our students will study and gain knowledge of the contributions of writers and artists. We are pleased this year that our symposium theme is “Voices of Liberation and Resistance” and that we will have panel discussions, readings and a film discussion on the topics of literature, the arts, and activism. The 2015 NBWC Biennial Symposium will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2015. About the Center for Black Literature The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College was established in 2003 to institutionalize the National Black Writers Conference (NBWC). In addition to hosting the NBWC, the Center has a mission to provide a forum for the dissemination of knowledge about Black literature and to support Black writers and Black literature through author readings, workshops, retreats, and conferences. To achieve its mission, the Center partners with high schools, the college, and community and cultural organizations to provide literary arts to youth, college students, and the general public. The mission of the Center for Black Literature is to expand, broaden, and enrich the public’s knowledge and aesthetic appreciation of the value of Black literature. The Center for Black Literature serves as a voice, mecca, and resource for Black writers and the general public to study the literature of people from the African Diaspora. It is the only center devoted to this in the country. ### The Center for Black Literature. Celebrating 10 Years of Honoring the Literature of People of the African Diaspora. For more information about CBL and the Center’s events and programs, please visit us online at: www.centerforblackliterature.org. Search “Center for Black Literature” on Facebook.com. Phone: 718-804-8883; E-mail: writers@mec.cuny.edu.

Nine of the books nominated for NAACP Image Awards also made on the Winter 2015 Power List.

I'll need a bit more time to reply on what to do to build traffic. I'm trying to get my enewsletter out and I have a will be teaching most of the day today and tomorrow. I'm glad you created a website Cynique; you are technologically sharper than the average bear :-) I'll post more before the end of the week. Chris you can link to Cynique's AALBC.com page: http://aalbc.com/authors/connie_bradley.html and of course this discussion forum is named for her so you should link here as well: http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php/forum/5-culture-race-economy-discussion-forum-cyniques-corner/

Gil Noble's Documentary on the intentional destruction of Black America by the FBI Billions of dollars were invested in illegal activity to destroy all efforts for Black Americans to improve our lot in American life. The activity continues... "Documentary by Gil Noble on the intentional destruction of Black America by the FBI using infiltration, counter-intelligence programs and drugs. From Marcus Garvey to Paul Robeson to Martin Luther King to Malcolm X to Fred Hampton, to the Black Panthers to heroin and crack, the FBI has worked to destroy black people. Includes interview with Darthard Perry, Ex-informer for the FBI."

Here is a title that is very popular, but flying under the radar of the mainstream and even the Black media (what little remains of it). From Niggas to Gods, Part One by Akil (Lushena Books, 1993) Students from Chatham Academy review From Niggas to Gods Excerpt: So, here we are. Here we are, the Mothers and Fathers of Supreme Civilization, living within the most self-destructive uncivilized state of mind, called “Nigga”. “Nigga” is a state of mind that leads to a state of existence. ” Nigga” is a state of mind and existence in which we live. so here we are How did we get here? We have not always lived within this state of mind. We once lived within a state of mind that produced Supreme Black Excellence, and Supreme Black Genius. Our Ancestors called this state of mind and state of existence “God”. We were all divine Gods and Goddesses, but Children of the most high God, who serves as our Master Teacher toward the divinity within our own nature. Well as you know, we are no longer existing on the level of ” God and Goddesses”, we are now existing on the level of “Niggas”. We have been psychologically, biologically, and therefore spiritually reduced from “Gods to Niggas”. We have destroyed and reduced to dust. Look, all of this tragedy is true, but wait! Today is a good day! Today is a new day! This is the beginning of our re-contruction. The day of our destruction is over.

This book recommendation is courtesy of our friends at The Museum of UnCut Funk Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide Dazzling, highly stylized, excessively violent and brimming with sex, Blaxploitation films enjoyed a brief and memorable moment in motion picture history -- and never before or since - have so many African American performers been featured in starring roles. Twenty-five years after they first thrilled audiences, Blaxploitation films are enjoying a robust renaissance. The genre, with its bevy of colorful, contemporary characters, irresistible soundtracks and catchy titles, has taken its rightful place among the entertainment industry's most enjoyed and influential films. Here's a new and appreciative look back at a distinctly American motion picture phenomenon, the first truly comprehensive examination of the genre, its films, its trends and its far-reaching impact, covering more than 240 Blaxploitation films in detail. This is the primary reference book on the genre, covering not just the films' heyday (1971-1976) but the entire decade (1970-1980).

This question was posted on Facebook. I have a policy of not materially participating in conversations on Facebook, because this activity takes away from activity on indie sites and enriches Facebook. In this case, I made an exception, but I also decided to share my comments here. "I have one but it doesn't get a lot of attention no matter what I do. So I seldom post on there anymore. I just keep it up for random visitors." --Barbara Barbara, I guess that depends on how you define "working for you." Many people consider the page successful if they get a lot of likes and shares. That is because Facebook is their primary web presence (a terrible move in my opinion). Others, looking for sales, have found it increasingly difficult to drive traffic to a place where visitors will buy. The Facebook buy button makes it easier for potential readers to buy one's book. But this allows Facebook to ensure that visitors never leave their website, while addressing one of the biggest problem we have; the inability to sell or otherwise monetize our Facebook pages. Of course Facebook will now have the additional information collected from our sales and, needless to say, they will ultimately collect a percentage of sales. Barbara, I suspect (I don't have data--though I wish someone would collect it), that most authors feel the same way you do. I talk to enough of them. There are many reasons your Facebook page may not be working very well. The problem is several of those reasons have nothing to do with you (it is not entirely your fault). Sure, it could be true that few are interested in your book, but we will never truly know because Facebook artificially controls the traffic to your page. Merit has nothing to do with it. You could buy ads to drive traffic to your page, but you run into the same problem, it takes a greater spend to drive the same level of engagement over time. Personally I have seen my "Fans" quadruple to almost 20K, but I've watched my engagement go down by 75%. I would actually argue that my content has improved during this period. In other words, I've been able to control for my activity. The only thing that remains is how frequently Facebook shows my content to others. I have observed that Facebook has simply stopped showing my content to others as frequently. I believe they do this because I ALWAYS include a link to my website http://aalbc.com. Facebook, in their goal of keeping people on Facebook, has no incentive to drive traffic away from their platform. In the early days of the web, before people could easily establish their own web presence, companies like AOL dominated. But once it became easy for people to establish their own websites the web exploded in content. Black sites thrived back then. Amazingly, we have reversed course and are going back to the AOL days, when a corporate entity, controlled, owned and profited from everything we did. It has gotten to the point that people are happy that Facebook has proved a Buy Button--as if this is something we could not do on our own websites. Ultimately, people will grow tired of the invasion of privacy, the lack of control, the limit on what we can do (we can't even boldface text), and the inability to generate revenue and leave Facebook. Perhaps another company will provide a better solution or people will revert to their own websites. In any case, Black sites will have been (we currently are) they biggest losers--always dependent upon a corporate entity for our piece of the world wide web. If we continue to freely give Facebook/Amazon what we do online we will regret it (indeed many of us do now). Darliss, mentioned that she would not be able to update the page frequently enough. That concern is natural for when we post comment to Facebook, WE ARE WORKING FOR FACEBOOK, and we are not being paid for this service. But the psychology is such that if we do poorly, then we think it is OUR fault. Facebook is brilliant!

Sure Chris Black folks do all that stuff. The problem is that those stereotypes are typically the only depictions we see of Black people on TV and film. All of the points Craig made represent popular stereotypes. Stereotypes that have been shoved down our throats to such an extent that people, even Black ones, presume them to be true. I did not vote for Obama to a 2nd term. I like to ski and I can swim. I've bungee jumped and ski dived. I read books. I don't watch basketball, listen to rap music, or go to church very much. I have no problem flagging down a cab. I know I'm not the only one, but I rarely see myself on TV. Anyone who comes close is usually the brunt of a joke It is like watching a Tyler Perry movie. The first one is funny, but the rest are all the same. I've already seen Hustle and Flow, you know what I mean? After a certain point, seeing a Black face in a film no longer excites me. It would be nice to see a Black man like myself or my boys. Speaking about my college crew. Virtually all of my boys got married, to Black women, and have been married, much like myself, for 25 years or more. There were two who went the baby momma route (also with Black women), but those two Brothers were outliers, not the norm of my immediate crew and our broader peer group. Yeah being raised by a single mother with a father, sucks. There is so much I learned from my buddies in the street that was just wrong. I often hear women boast about how good they, and woman in general, are at raising men. That is complete bullshit, but hey, I give the credit for trying. Chris that is a funny story about getting in the car . My first car for a new '84 camaro. I used to hop in through the window, without opening the door, like those white boys on that TV show (The Dukes of Harzard I think). We did not have a car going up, so I mimicked what I saw on TV I guess. I used to drive, from time to time, with my seat reclined all the way back with the music blasting. I'm sure I got that from some movie to TV too.

Sorry I was talking about Dexter's Laboratory

This was posted on Youtube by Craig Nobles "I think this show reinforces the stereotypes....and is not good for my business of BRANDING URBAN INFLUENCE...FOX wins with the audience and gets to sell advertising,I lose because no one want this stereotype attached to there BRANDING....FOX DOES IT AGAIN.....GIVE A FEW PEOPLE A JOB AS THE CULTURE SUFFERS AS A WHOLE MOVEMENT......The executives at FOX NETWORK ran down the following check list before Premiering the New show "EMPIRE" ........ here's that check list... Black Men killing each other.... "check" Angry Black Woman going after a Black male "check" Educated, Successful Black Male with a White Woman "check" Display of Effeminized Black Males "check" Blacks committing crimes and going to prison "check" Two Bitter Black Women going after each other ....one being lightskin, the other brown skin.... "check" The Promotion of Ignorant ass Crack Baby Rap Music "check" Overweight Black Woman displaying her self hate by wearing a BLONDE WIG "check" THIS SHOW IS GONNA BE A HIT !!!!! BRILLIANT" I think Craig left out the Black man in a dress. I still have not seen the shows, but I'm not convinced working these shows or not working at all are the only options.