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Disco queen Donna Summer, whose pulsing anthems such as “Last Dance,“ ”Love to Love You Baby“ and ”Bad Girls” became the soundtrack for a glittery age of sex, drugs, dance and flashy clothes, has died. She was 63.
Her family released a statement Thursday saying Summer died and that they “are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continue legacy.”
Summer gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s, and released a number of albums that have reach gold or platinum status, including the multiplatinum “Bad Girls” and “On the Radio, Volume I & II.” Her No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits include “Hot Stuff” and “MacArthur Park.”
Her sound was a mix of genres, and helped her earn Grammy Awards in the dance, rock, R&B and inspirational categories.
She released her last album, “Crayons,” in 2008. She also performed on “American Idol” that year with its top female contestant
GoDaddy.com was almost unheard of six years ago. Then it ran the most talked-about ad of Super Bowl XXXIX — a spoof of Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” in which a busty woman appears before a censorship board and a strap breaks on her skimpy top.
The spot was so racy that Fox yanked a second airing scheduled for later in the game. The other fallout? The Super Bowl ad rolled out each year by GoDaddy, which registers Internet domain names, is now almost as eagerly awaited as the halftime show.
The Super Bowl commercial blitz is extending beyond the usual talking babies and office chimps to engage viewers online. Fox is charging about $3 million for 30 seconds of ad time Sunday during Super Bowl XLV. So is the gamble worth it for companies?
It’s not a bet,” GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons says, “if you know the outcome.”
Online businesses in particular reap big benefits from pitching during the game. Viewers see the ads, then rush to the Web to see uncut versions of the commercial or snag freebies — and they end up becoming paying customers.
Marketers are using every trick in the playbook to dominate the buzz before the game and long afterward, too. The gimmicks include online contests, a car “race” powered by Twitter mentions, and a secret new level of a hit iPhone game.
The goal is to build buzz, not get lost in the 42 minutes of Super Bowl ad time, and get cheap or free exposure when viewers watch again on YouTube.
After Super Bowl XXXIX, it added race car driver Danica Patrick as a “GoDaddy girl,” and last year signed “The Biggest Loser” trainer Jillian Michaels. It’s already encouraging customers to check out this year’s Super Bowl for “our hottest ads yet.”
Since the Jackson spoof in 2005, GoDaddy has gone from single digits to nearly 50 percent of market share in domain-name registry. On average, the site says, it has picked up 5 percentage points of market share in the first 48 hours after a Super Bowl ad. It posted almost $1 billion in revenue last year.
“Nowadays you’ve got to get more out of your investment than 110 million viewers watching a 60-second spot,” said Steve Cannon, head of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA.
As part of a tie-in to the automaker’s first Super Bowl ad, which introduces five new vehicle models and celebrates the company’s 125th anniversary, Mercedes developed a pre-game race among five teams headed for the Super Bowl in Arlington, Texas. The racers buy gas based on the number of times they are tweeted and retweeted.
Advertisers have bought up all the commercial time on Fox’s broadcast. Last year, space was still available near game time, but for this year’s contest, it was gone by October. Thirty seconds of air time is selling for $3 million, up slightly from last year’s $2.97 million, according to Kantar Media. Most other nights of the year, a 30-second prime-time commercial runs between $100,000 and $500,000.
Companies covet the Super Bowl audience because it is huge and because viewers are paying attention. As people spend more time on computers and smartphones and browse among 500 cable channels, it’s perhaps the only broadcast that allows advertisers to reach such a broad audience.
“It’s the most efficient media buy out there. Where do you pull such numbers consistently?” said Bob Horowitz, producer of the annual TV show “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials.”"It also delivers a huge female audience.”
The ad lineup features both familiar and new characters. Budweiser’s classic Clydesdales return, E-Trade sticks with its talking babies, and Careerbuilder.com brings back its office chimps.
Following its hit ad last year with Betty White and Abe Vigoda on a football field, Mars Inc.’s Snickers brand will reprise its theme “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry,” this time with comedians Roseanne Barr and Richard Lewis.
A musical odd couple, Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne, will star in Best Buy’s first Super Bowl commercial, which is still under wraps.
Standing out in an increasingly crowded Super Bowl ad lineup takes more than a funny gag or celebrity of the moment.
“We’re seeing social media embraced by Super Bowl advertisers like never before,” said Tim Calkins, marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He said advertisers can get a lot of traffic for a rather modest investment by capitalizing on social media.
Among the gimmicks advertisers are using to extends their ads’ impact:
- Twentieth Century Fox will air an ad for the animated movie “Rio” that contains a code that will unlock a secret level in the popular smartphone game “Angry Birds.” The level will let users enter a sweepstakes for a trip to Rio de Janeiro on March 22 for the film premiere.
- PepsiCo’s six ads for Doritos and Pepsi Max were created by consumers and selected by popular vote at Pepsi’s . Ten finalists got $25,000 and a trip to the game. The creators of the seven commercials have a shot at prizes of up to $1 million if the spots rank at or near the top of USA Today’s ad meter.http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com
- Anheuser-Busch posted still images from three Bud Light ads on Facebook two weeks before the game. If people who “Like” Bud Light on Facebook correctly guess the plot of the ads, a fourth online-only ad will be unlocked.
“Before, everyone asked, ‘What was the best spot?’ But now, people are broadening their idea of what that means,” said Steve Slivka, chief creative officer of Colossal Squid Industries, a digital ad agency in Chicago.
For Mercedes, the social-media push seems to be working.
Since its Tweet race was announced, Mercedes’ Facebook following has more than tripled to 85,000 fans. It started a Twitter account for the race, which now has 73,000 followers. And since the racers began posting YouTube videos when the race started Tuesday, they have been viewed 1.8 million times
A fearsome storm spread a smothering shroud of white over nearly half the nation Wednesday, snarling transportation from Oklahoma to New England, burying parts of the Midwest under 2 feet of snow and laying down dangerously heavy ice in the Northeast that was too much for some buildings to bear.
Tens of millions of people stayed home. The hardy few who ventured out faced howling winds that turned snowflakes into face-stinging needles. Chicago’s 20.2 inches of snow was the city’s third-largest amount on record. In New York’s Central Park, the pathways resembled skating rinks.
The storm that resulted from two clashing air masses was, if not unprecedented, extraordinarily rare for its size and ferocious strength.
“A storm that produces a swath of 20-inch snow is really something we’d see once every 50 years – maybe,” National Weather Service meteorologist Thomas Spriggs said.
Across the storm’s path, lonely commuters struggled against drifts 3 and 4 feet deep in eerily silent streets, some of which had not seen a plow’s blade since the snow started a day earlier. Parkas and ski goggles normally reserved for the slopes became essential for getting to work.
“This is probably the most snow I’ve seen in the last 34 years,” joked 34-year-old Chicagoan Michael George. “I saw some people cross-country skiing on my way to the train. It was pretty wild.”
Although skies were beginning to clear by mid-afternoon over much of the nation’s midsection, the storm promised to leave a blast of bitter cold in its wake. Overnight temperatures in the upper Midwest were expected to fall to minus 5 to minus 20, with wind chills as low as minus 30.
The system was blamed for the deaths of at least a dozen people, including a homeless man who burned to death on New York’s Long Island as he tried to light cans of cooking fuel and a woman in Oklahoma City who was killed while being pulled behind a truck on a sled that hit a guard rail.
Airport operations slowed to a crawl nationwide, and flight cancellations reached 13,000 for the week, making this system the most disruptive so far this winter. A massive post-Christmas blizzard led to about 10,000 cancellations.
In the winter-weary Northeast, thick ice collapsed several structures, including a gas station canopy on Long Island and an airplane hangar and garages near Boston. In at least two places, workers heard the structures beginning to crack and narrowly escaped.
In Middletown, Conn., the entire third floor of a building failed, littering the street with bricks and snapping two trees. Acting Fire Marshal Al Santostefano said two workers fled when they heard a cracking sound.
“It’s like a bomb scene,” Santostefano said. “Thank God they left the building when they did.”
More than a half-dozen states began digging out from up to a foot of snow that made roads treacherous and left hundreds of thousands of homes without power.
Chicago public schools canceled classes for a second straight day. And the city’s iconic Lake Shore Drive remained shut down, nearly a day after drivers abandoned hundreds of snowbound vehicles.
The famous freeway appeared as if rush hour had been stopped in time, with three lanes of cars cluttering the pavement amid snow drifts that stood as high as the windshields. Bulldozers worked to clear the snow from around the cars, which were then plucked out by tow trucks one by one.
As the storm built to full strength Tuesday evening, 26-year-old Lindsey Wilson sat for hours on a stranded city bus. She eventually joined other passengers who tried to walk home. She made it about 100 feet before she couldn’t see anything around her, including the bus she’d just left.
Fearing she would be swallowed by mounting snow drifts, Wilson turned back and spent the night on the bus.
“I thought if I fall over, what would happen if I got buried under a pile of snow?” she said.
Some motorists came away angry, frustrated that city didn’t close the crucial thoroughfare earlier. Others were mad at themselves for going out during the storm or not using another route.
“In 31 years with the city, I haven’t experienced anything like we did at Lake Shore Drive,” said Raymond Orozco, chief of staff for Mayor Richard M. Daley. “Hundreds of people were very inconvenienced, and we apologize for that.”
Orozco took responsibility for the decision not to close the drive as soon as snow began to fall Tuesday, but insisted he stood by the choice. He also hinted that his boss wasn’t satisfied.
“I think the mayor knows we can always do better,” Orozco said.
At dusk Wednesday, more than 200 cars remained on the drive, and city workers planned to work through the night to remove them. But it wasn’t clear whether the job would be done in time for the morning rush.
Elsewhere, utility crews raced to restore power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where freezing rain and ice brought down electrical lines.
Rolling blackouts were implemented across Texas, including in Super Bowl host city Dallas, due to high demand during a rare ice storm. The outages would not affect Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington, said Jeamy Molina, a spokeswoman for utility provider Oncor. But other Super Bowl facilities, such as team hotels, were not exempt, she said.
The storm derived its power from the collision of cold air sweeping down from Canada and warm, moist air coming up from the south.
“The atmosphere doesn’t like that contrast in temperature. Things get mixed together and you have a storm like this,” said Gino Izzo, another weather service meteorologist. “The jet stream up in the atmosphere was like the engine and the warm air was the fuel.”
The contrasts were most dramatic in Texas earlier in the week, when one part of the state reported temperatures in the single digits and another part had temperatures in the 70s, with near-tropical humidity.
“That was the breeding ground for this storm,” Izzo said.
Louis Uccellini, director of the government’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction, said the storm also drew strength from the La Nina (la NEEN’-ya) condition currently affecting the tropical Pacific Ocean.
La Nina is a periodic cooling of the surface temperatures of the tropical Pacific Ocean, the opposite of the better-known El Nino (el NEEN’-yoh) warming. Both can have significant impacts on weather around the world by changing the movement of winds and high and low pressure systems.
Still, some people in the storm’s wake shrugged off the weather – and nearly the whole season.
“It’s winter. It should have snow and ice. It’s the way it is,” said Vincent Zuza of Chatham, N.J., who was waiting for a flight to Salt Lake City for a ski trip after his first flight was canceled Wednesday. “You can’t get too upset about it, and you can’t control it. You just have to make the best of it.”
For some of those battered by the storm, there was one whimsical ray of hope: The world’s most famous weather forecaster – with four legs – predicted an early spring.
Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers told Groundhog Day revelers at Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney, Pa., that the groundhog had not seen his shadow, meaning winter will end within six weeks, according to tradition.
—
Associated Press writers Deanna Bellandi, Karen Hawkins, and Barbara Rodriguez and photographer Kii Sato in Chicago; Jim Salter in St. Louis; Patrick Walters in Philadelphia; Ula Ilnytzky in New York City and Adam Pemble in Newark, N.J., contributed to this report.
Chris Brown has completed a domestic violence counseling program required as part of the singer’s guilty plea to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna nearly two years ago.
On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg congratulated the 21-year-old R&B performer for finishing the yearlong program.
As a result of completing the required counseling, Brown will no longer have to appear in court every three months for progress report hearings.
Brown is serving five years of probation after pleading guilty last year to assaulting pop star Rihanna in a rented sports car after a pre-Grammy Awards party.
City News Service reports the judge said she would consider lifting the protective order against Brown at a later date. The order requires Brown to stay at least 100 yards away from Rihanna.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Check out the full list of winners below.
Movies
Outstanding Motion Picture
“The Help” – Winner
Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
Eddie Murphy – “Tower Heist”
Laurence Fishburne – “Contagion”
Laz Alonso -”Jumping the Broom” – Winner
Oliver Litondo – “The First Grader”
Vin Diesel – “Fast Five”
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Adepero Oduye – “Pariah”
Emma Stone -” The Help”
Paula Patton – “Jumping the Broom”
Viola Davis – “The Help” – Winner
Zoe Saldana – “Colombiana”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Anthony Mackie – “The Adjustment Bureau”
Charles Parnell – “Pariah”
Don Cheadle – “The Guard”
Jeffrey Wright – “The Ides of March”
Mike Epps – “Jumping the Broom” – Winner
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Bryce Dallas Howard – “The Help”
Cicely Tyson – “The Help”
Kim Wayans – “Pariah”
Maya Rudolph – “Bridesmaids”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help” – Winner
Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
“I Will Follow”
“Kinyarwanda”
“MOOZ-lum”
“Pariah” – Winner
“The First Grader”
Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture
“A Separation”
“Attack the Block”
“In the Land of Blood and Honey” – Winner
“Le Havre”
“Life, Above All”
Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical or Television)
“Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest”
“Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey”
“Sing Your Song” – Winner
“The Rescuers”
“Thunder Soul”
TV
Outstanding Comedy Series
“Love That Girl! ”
“Modern Family”
“Reed Between the Lines”
“The Game”
“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” – Winner
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Dule Hill – “Psych”
Malcolm-Jamal Warner – “Reed Between the Lines” – Winner
Phil Morris – “Love That Girl! ”
Pooch Hall – “The Game”
Terry Crews – “Are We There Yet? ”
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Tatyana Ali – “Love That Girl! ”
Tia Mowry-Hardrict – “The Game”
Tracee Ellis Ross – “Reed Between the Lines” – Winner
Vanessa Williams – “Desperate Housewives”
Wendy Raquel Robinson – “The Game”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Craig Robinson – “The Office”
Damon Wayans, Jr. – “Happy Endings”
J.B. Smoove – “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Nick Cannon – “Up All Night” – Winner
Tracy Morgan – “30 Rock”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Amber Riley – “Glee”
Gabourey Sidibe – “The Big C”
Keshia Knight Pulliam – “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” – Winner
Maya Rudolph – “Up All Night”
Sofia Vergara – “Modern Family”
Outstanding Drama Series
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Grey’s Anatomy”
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” – Winner
“The Good Wife”
“Treme”
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Andre Braugher – “Men of a Certain Age”
Hill Harper – “CSI: NY”
L.L. Cool J – “NCIS: Los Angeles” – Winner
Taye Diggs – “Private Practice”
Wendell Pierce – “Treme”
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Chandra Wilson – “Grey’s Anatomy”
Khandi Alexander – “Treme”
Regina King – “SouthLAnd” – Winner
Sandra Oh – “Grey’s Anatomy”
Taraji P. Henson – “Person of Interest”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Corey Reynolds – “The Closer”
Ice T – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
James Pickens, Jr. – “Grey’s Anatomy” – Winner
Nelsan Ellis – “True Blood”
Omar Epps – “House M.D.”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Alfre Woodard – “Memphis Beat”
Anika Noni Rose – “Law & Order Special Victims Unit”
Archie Panjabi – “The Good Wife” – Winner
Diahann Carroll – “White Collar”
Loretta Devine – “Grey’s Anatomy”
Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
“Five”
“Hallmark Hall of Fame, Mitch Albom’s Have a Little Faith”
“Luther”
“The Least Among You”
“Thurgood” – Winner
Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Esai Morales – “We Have Your Husband”
Idris Elba – “Luther”
Laurence Fishburne – “Thurgood” – Winner
Louis Gossett, Jr. – “The Least Among You”
Samuel L. Jackson – “The Sunset Limited”
Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Anika Noni Rose – “Hallmark Hall of Fame, Mitch Albom’s Have a Little Faith” Jenifer Lewis – “Five”
Rosario Dawson – “Five”
Taraji P. Henson – “Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story” – Winner
Tracee Ellis Ross – “Five”
Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
Aaron D. Spears – “The Bold and the Beautiful”
Bryton James -” The Young and the Restless”
Emerson Brooks – “All My Children” – Winner
James Reynolds – “Days of Our Lives”
Texas Battle – “The Bold and the Beautiful”
Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
Christel Khalil – “The Young and the Restless”
Julia Pace Mitchell – “The Young and the Restless”
Tatyana Ali – “The Young and the Restless” – Winner
Tonya Lee Williams – “The Young and the Restless”
Yvette Freeman – “The Bold and the Beautiful”
Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special)
“BET News Exclusive: The President Answers Black America”
“Judge Mathis”
“Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel”
“Unsung” – Winner
“Washington Watch with Roland Martin”
Outstanding Talk Series
“Anderson ”
“Oprah’s Lifeclass” – Winner
“The Doctors”
“The View”
“The Wendy Williams Show”
Outstanding Reality Series
“All-American Muslim”
“American Idol”
“Dancing with the Stars” – Winner
“Sunday Best”
“Tia & Tamera”
Outstanding Variety Series or Special
“2011 BET Awards”
“Black Girls Rock! ”
“Oprah Presents: Master Class” – Winner
“Prince! Behind the Symbol”
“UNCF An Evening of Stars Tribute to Chaka Khan”
Outstanding Children’s Program
“A.N.T. Farm”
“Dora the Explorer”
“Go, Diego! Go! ”
“I Can Be President: A Kid’s-Eye View” – Winner
“My Family Tree”
Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children’s Program (Series or Special)
China Anne McClain – “A.N.T. Farm”
Keke Palmer – “True Jackson, VP” – Winner
Lance Robertson – “Yo Gabba Gabba”
Leon Thomas III – “Victorious”
Zendaya Coleman – “Shake It Up”
Recording
Outstanding New Artist
Committed
Diggy Simmons – Winner
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.
Mindless Behavior
Wynter Gordon
Outstanding Male Artist
Anthony Hamilton
Bruno Mars
Cee Lo Green – Winner
Chris Brown
Common
Outstanding Female Artist
Beyonce
Jennifer Hudson
Jill Scott – Winner
Ledisi
Mary J. Blige
Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration
Boyz II Men
Cee Lo Green feat. Melanie Fiona
Mary J. Blige feat. Drake – Winner
Sounds of Blackness
The Roots
Outstanding Jazz Album
“Chano y Dizzy” – Terence Blanchard and Poncho Sanchez
“Friends” – Stanley Jordan
“Guitar Man” – George Benson – Winner
“Legacy” – Gerald Wilson
“Road Show Vol. 2″ – Sonny Rollins
Outstanding Gospel Album (Traditional or Contemporary)
“Becoming” – Yolanda Adams
“Church on the Moon” – Deitrick Haddon
“Hello Fear” – Kirk Franklin – Winner
“Something Big” – Mary Mary
“The Journey” – Andrae Crouch
Outstanding World Music Album
“Afrodiaspora” – Susana Baca
“Carnival Fever” – Brother B
“Live at 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival” – Boukman Eksperyans
“Sounds of Blackness” – Sounds of Blackness – Winner
“The First Grader” – Alex Heffes
Outstanding Music Video
“25/8″ – Mary J. Blige
“Hear My Call” – Jill Scott
“I Was Here” – Beyoncé
“Someone Like You” – Adele
“Where You At” – Jennifer Hudson – Winner
Outstanding Song
“Best Thing I Never Had” – Beyonce
“Fool for You” feat. Melanie Fiona – Cee Lo Green
“I Smile” – Kirk Franklin – Winner
“So In Love” feat. Anthony Hamilton – Jill Scott
“Someone Like You” – Adele
Outstanding Album
“4″ – Beyonce
“F.A.M.E. ” – Chris Brown
“I Remember Me” – Jennifer Hudson – Winner
“Lasers” – Lupe Fiasco
“The Light of the Sun” – Jill Scott
Literature
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
“A Silken Thread” – Brenda Jackson
“Boundaries” – Elizabeth Nunez
“Say Amen, Again” – Reshonda Tate Billingsley – Winner
“Silver Sparrow” – Tayari Jones
“The Plot Against Hip Hop: A Novel” – Nelson George
Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction
“Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America” – Melissa Harris-Perry
“Super Rich” – Russell Simmons
“The Cosmopolitan Canopy” – Elijah Anderson
“The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place” – Hill Harper – Winner
“Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now” – Toure
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
“2Grieve 2Gether: A Journal from the Heart Helping Survivors & Supporters Navigate the Healing Process” – Denise Hall Brown
“A Defining Moment”- Patricia Duncan
“The Loom” – Shella Gillus
“The Strawberry Letter” – Lyah Le Flore – Winner
“We the Animals” – Justin Torres
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Auto-Biography
“A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother” – Janny Scott
“Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention” – Manning Marable
“My Song” – Harry Belafonte – Winner
“No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington” – Condoleezza Rice
“The John Carlos Story” – John Carlos, Dave Zirin
Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
“A Year to Wellness and Other Weight Loss Secrets” – Bertice Berry
“Living My Dream: An Artistic Approach to Marketing” – Synthia Saint James
“Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy, & Social Justice in Classroom & Community” – Quraysh Ali Lansana
“The T.D. Jakes Relationship Bible: Life Lessons on Relationships from the Inspired Word of God” – T.D. Jakes – Winner
“Too Important to Fail: Saving America’s Boys” – Tavis Smiley (Author), Juan Roberts (Illustrator)
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
“Afro Clouds & Nappy Rain: The Curtis Brown Poems” – James Golden – Winner
“Head Off & Split” – Nikky Finney
“Honoring Genius: The Narrative of Craft, Art, Kindness and Justice” – Haki Madhubuti
“Intimate Thoughts” – Darrin Henson (Author), Anna Saunders (Illustrator)
“Last Seen” – Jacqueline Jones Lamon
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
“Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band” – Kwame Alexander (Author), Tim Bowers (Illustrator)
“Before There Was Mozart” – Lesa Cline-Ransome (Author), James Ransome (Illustrator)
“Heart and Soul” – Kadir Nelson (Author/Illustrator)
“White Water” – Michael S. Bandy (Author), Shadra Strickland (Illustrator)
“You Can Be A Friend” – Tony Dungy (Author), Ron Mazellan (Illustrator) – Winner
Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
“Camo Girl” – Kekla Magoon
“Eliza’s Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary” – Jerdine Nolan (Author), Sadra Strickland (Illustrator)
“Jesse Owens: I Always Loved Running” – Jeff Burlingame – Winner
“Kick” – Walter Dean
“Planet Middle School” – Nikki Grimes
 I begin my “Introduction to American Government” courses at Cal Poly Pomona by teaching students about the ideological spectrum. I discuss the political chess game of ideology. This quarter it was quite confusing for my students to understand Conservatism v. Liberalism because the traditional descriptors for each perspective seemed to flip-flop.
For example, the new tax deal that was signed by President Obama is peppered with ideological contradictions. The bill passed with a 277-148 vote in the House and an 81-19 vote in the Senate.
Traditionally advocates of the underdog, Democrats voted to give the wealthy tax breaks with this bill. Republicans, traditionally advocates of reducing the deficit and adamant opponents of stimulus strategies, voted for this bill. The animated opposition to this bill came mostly from liberal Democrats that were, ironically, afraid of what the $858billion price tag would do to the soaring federal deficit. Many conservative Republicans, who define themselves as “deficit hawks,” voted for this bill.
What was more confusing to my students than these ironic twists by politicians is the practical ideological contradictions embraced by the average American. For instance, one of my conservative students who opposes the president’s “socialist” agenda was laid off from his job several months ago. I asked him in class how he was surviving.
He said, “I’m surviving on unemployment benefits,” not really conscious of the contradiction. I told him that conservatives fought against extending the “socialist” unemployment benefits that he was receiving. It was Obama and the Democrats who fought for this student’s well-being and the millions of others in his situation.
In continuing to make my points about ideological paradoxes, I told my class of how my NASCAR-loving high school classmates in McDonough, Ga., are anti-elitist at their core. I asked, “Why would my former classmates oppose a tax on people who make $250,000 or more? Why would my rebel-flag-and-camouflage-wearing friends be against an estate tax levied on the very wealthy – the same country club types that they despise?” My puzzled students had no responses to these questions. The candid answers explain the tragedy of ideology in this nation.
Overworked and perpetually busy, Americans do not have time for nuance or detail. We have become reactionary and robotic in the way we respond to our politics du jour. Without introspection and a careful examination of why we support some policies and oppose others, Americans wait for ideologues to tell them what to think.
Imagine Rush Limbaugh telling one of my former classmates, who has been laid off from the Snapper Lawnmower factory in McDonough, that he should not take the president’s socialist unemployment benefits; he should refuse government-sponsored health care benefits for his three kids; and that he should support giving tax breaks for the wealthy and super-wealthy (like Limbaugh).
Rush and his proteges spout these instructions to naive followers on the airwaves daily. With the mesmerizing influence of a charismatic demagogue, Rush inspires his followers to passionately fight against their own best interests – metaphorically encouraging them to drink poisonous grape Kool-Aid.
The landslide congressional wins by Republicans in the midterm elections taught (or reminded) the president that the average American is not interested in a nuanced deconstruction of public policies. Instead, they are susceptible to manipulation by venomous sound bites and unflattering labels. Given this refresher, the president has masterfully retreated. He has compromised and given the Republicans the ideological leverage to expose their own glaring contradictions.
Obama has outmaneuvered his opponents on health care reform, finance reform, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the START Treaty. Now that he has given Republicans their tax cut, what else do they have on their limited agenda? He has effectively taken this trump card off the table. After adding $858billion to the federal deficit, Republicans will soon get back to discussing fiscal discipline. This will sound contradictory.
In order to significantly cut the deficit now, Republicans are forced to tinker with one of the “Big Three” – Social Security, Medicare or defense. Each Republican understands the political consequences of tampering with Social Security and/or Medicare. As conservatives they understand the consequences of fiddling with the defense budget.
In the game of political chess, by taking taxes off the Republican agenda, Obama has effectively taken their queen. And by time he is inaugurated for a second term, the president will utter, perhaps under his breath, “Checkmate.”
Renford Reese, Ph.D., is a professor of political science and founder/director of the Colorful Flags program at Cal Poly
Roland Wirt – Stanley Stain – Don Derbigny
New Year’s Eve @ Sea
aboard Super Luxurious Mega Yacht Fantasea One, Dock 52,
Friday, December 31st, 8:30pm – 1:30am
Board: 8:30pm – Depart: 10:00pm – Return: 1:30am
Dock 52, Marina Del Rey, Located @ 13509 Fiji Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90292// Scroll down for directions
Tickets Are Going Fast !
Your ticket buys a reserved seat & dinner on a deck all night.
You can go on any deck on the yacht.
Tickets Can Be Purchased at Inglewood Tickets, 310-671-6400.
Be sure to mention the Deck you prefer
If you have any questions please call at 310-535-9479 or www.onyxworldclass.com
THIS IS LA’s PREMIER NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY !
FEATURING FOUR DECKS OF FUN
Deck 1:
Live Music w/Chazzy Green & The Greenbacks
Deck 2:
Live Music w/The Elaments Music Group
Deck 3:
Party with DJ Shell of LA
Deck 4:
360 Degree – Pacific Ocean Views & Fireworks
RSVP @ 310-535-9479 | www.jazz-at-sea.com
Group tables of 10 available
COMPLETE DINNER BUFFET
(click here to print menu)
FREE GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE
FIREWORKS @ MIDNIGHT
PARTY FAVORS
FEATURING FOUR DECKS OF FUN
360 Degree – Pacific Ocean Views & Fireworks
THIS IS WHERE YOU WANT TO BE ON NEW YEAR’S EVE
A few seats may be available at the Dock 52 tonight.
If you have questions call: 310-535-9479.Please bring valid ID for tickets on will-call.
YOU CAN GO TO ANY DECK ON THE YACHT
Dock 52, Marina Del Rey, Located @ 13509 Fiji Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90292.
Directions to the Fantasea One Yacht, Dock 52, From the 405 Freeway:
Take the 90 Freeway (the Marina Fwy) West until it ends.
Continue straight on the surface street to Lincoln Blvd.
Turn Left on Lincoln to Fiji Way.
Turn Right on Fiji Way. Go about 100 yards.
Look for Dock 52 sign on the right.
Turn right into the parking lot & park.
You will see the Fantasea One Yacht.
LeBron James scored half the points in a 16-0 first-quarter surge that muffled an angry crowd, finishing with 38 to lead the Miami Heat to a 118-90 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night.
This was a game that meant the world to the Cavaliers’ fans, who felt betrayed by James’ decision last July to leave his home state for sunny Miami.
“I’m disappointed more than anything else,” said first-year Cleveland coach Byron Scott. “The thing that worried me is we have to get better as a basketball team. I know we can play a lot better than we did tonight. Like I told the guys in there, I haven’t lost any faith in them.”
It was James’ first game back in the city where he played for seven years before leaving via free agency, angering disbelieving fans who considered him one of their own.
“We came in here with one goal and that was to win a basketball game, and we did that,” James said. “This was our most complete game of the season from start to finish.”
Dwyane Wade added 22 points, James Jones 18 and Chris Bosh 15 for the Heat, a star-studded team which has seldom played like one in going 12-8 so far.
“It was a great collective effort,” said coach Erik Spoelstra. “This is the first time I have seen this connection all year long.”
Daniel Gibson scored 21 for the Cavaliers, who have lost six of eight and now play seven of their next eight on the road. They fell to 7-11 on the season.
James had 10 more points than Cleveland’s starting lineup.
Ahead by 19 at the half, the Heat poured it on by shooting 73 percent from the field in the third quarter, with James going 10 of 12 and Wade hitting all four of his attempts to stretch the lead to 30 points.
“I thought he played great,” Scott said of James. “Simple as that. I thought he played great.”
James sat on the bench for all of the fourth quarter, with dozens of security guards and police lining the team’s entrance to the court and guarding against objects thrown at him. After the final seconds sifted away, he left without incident.
Until then, James frequently bantered with his former coaches with the Cavaliers and even talked to fans at courtside. The native of nearby Akron smiled while shooting free throws, in spite of what seemed like the entire arena chanting, “Akron hates you!”
“I turned one time and he was down there talking,” Scott said. “That’s what he does most games. He talks to most guys on the bench.”
The early spurt left a crowd of 20,562 with nothing left to cheer except James’ occasional missed shot. He didn’t miss many, finishing 15 of 25 from the field, to go with eight assists and five rebounds.
James, of course, left the Cavaliers this summer to take his act to South Florida. Before the game, fans peppered him with obscene chants and booed every time he appeared on the giant monitors over midcourt.
Fans held up signs that read, “Quitness” and “Play Like It’s Game Five” – a reference to his Nike marketing campaign and also last season’s pivotal game in the playoff series with Boston, when many felt James had quit on the Cavaliers. There were five guys wearing a single letter each on their white T-shirts that spelled out: LeBum.
He never apologized for jilting Cleveland but expressed gratitude for the way he was treated during his days in the team’s wine and gold.
“Seven great years, loved every moment,” he said. “Utmost respect for this franchise and for these fans.”
Cleveland native and game show host Drew Carey, Browns icon Bernie Kosar, Indians slugger Travis Hafner and most of the current Browns were cheered wildly when, just before the start, they slowly made their way to courtside seats. Cincinnati Bengals receiver Terrell Owens even was in attendance.
By far, the loudest cheers were saved for Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who had ripped James after his decision, saying he quit on the Cavaliers during their season-ending playoff series with the Celtics last spring.
It didn’t take long for the Heat to end the suspense once the game began.
Cleveland led 17-12 early, but James led the 16-0 surge that all but put the game on ice. He scored on a reverse layup in traffic to put the Heat up 19-17 at the 3:10 mark and they never looked back.
With the Cavaliers falling farther and farther behind, the fans had to content themselves with cheering each time James had a shot blocked or was called for a foul.
When he was barely bumped with 4:28 left in the first quarter by Cleveland’s Joey Graham 20 feet from the basket, he flopped onto the floor. The crowd went crazy when the replay showed the former Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School star hit the deck, with lusty boos following when it appeared he might have embellished the contact.
“It was a very good atmosphere,” Spoelstra said. “It felt like a playoff game for us.”
It felt like something far more final for the struggling Cavaliers.
Los Angeles Lakers legend, Earvin “Magic” Johnson announced he is part of an ownership group that would help bring an NFL team back to Los Angeles.
Confirming earlier reports, he said on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’:
“I’m announcing this today: I’ve teamed up with Tim Leiweke at AEG, and we’re gonna come together to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s recent liquidation of his 4.5 percent stake in the Lakers and 105 Starbucks outlets have sparked numerous rumors related to his financial stability or his future intentions of owning another sports franchise. The sale of the Lakers ownership is reported to be valued at $27 million while the sale of the Starbucks outlets have been valued at around $75 million.
Michael Jackson’s new song called “Hold My Hand” which is a duet with singer/producer Akon has surfaced. While the upcoming release of Michael Jackson’s posthumous album called “Michael,” continues to create controversy, the star’s label Sony has unveiled a new track from the CD entitled “Hold My Hand.”
‘Hold My Hand’ is duet that he recorded in 2007 with singer Akon and the unmastered version had surfaced online – therefore it was very hard to criticize it or review it (nonetheless the non-finalized version did drawn sharp criticism from Michael Jackson’s fans).
“Hold My Hand” is a mid tempo track that is not as brilliant as “Heal The World” but they have couple of similarities.
The song which talks about finding the strength to fight and go on with one’s daily battles has been reworked and according to the rapper the new version that was made available last night is totally different from what landed on the internet 3 years ago.
Akon shared his story with AceShowbiz saying: “The world was not ready to hear ‘Hold My Hand’ when it leaked a couple years ago. We were devastated about it.But its time has definitely come; now in its final state, it has become an incredible, beautiful, anthemic song. I’m so proud to have had the chance to work with Michael, one of my all time idols.”
Akon feat Michael Jackson – Hold My Hand Lyrics are after the jump:
This life don’t last forever (hold my hand)
So tell me what we’re waitin’ for (hold my hand)
Better off being together (hold my hand)
Than being miserable alone (hold my hand)
Cause I’ve been there before
And you’ve been there before
But together we can be alright.
Cause when it gets dark and when it gets cold
We can just hold each other till we see the sunlight
So if you just hold my hand
Baby I promise that I’ll do all I can
Things will get better if you just hold my hand
Nothing can come in between us if you just hold, hold my, hold my, hold my hand.
The nights are getting darker (hold my hand)
And there’s no peace inside (hold my hand)
So why make our lives harder (hold my hand)
By fighting love, tonight.
Cause I’ve been there before
And you’ve been there before
But together we can be alright.
Cause when it gets dark and when it gets cold
We can just hold each other till we see the sunlight
So if you just hold my hand
Baby I promise that I’ll do all I can
Things will get better if you just hold my hand
Nothing can come in between us if you just hold my hand
According to the tracklisting of the new album, there will be featurings from Akon, 50 cent and Lenny Kravitz. Out of the many collaborations that have been circulating on the net only three have been confirmed thus far: one is the track with Akon entitled “Hold My Hand,” another with 50 Cent called “Monster,” and a duet with Lenny Kravitz called “(I Can not Make It) Another Day.”
The new effort called Michael will be released on Dec. 14.
Newsweek posted an op-ed piece by Woods on Wednesday titled, “How I’ve Redefined Victory.” He is scheduled to be a guest for two segments Thursday on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning.”
As he approaches the one-year anniversary of a U.S. Thanksgiving night car accident that wrecked his image, these are some of the signs that Woods is entering a rebuilding stage.
“It’s a positive step for him,” said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG. “He’s making the effort to do some things different.”
Woods has had a Twitter account since June 2009 — his sign name, “Tiger Woods” was secured about a year before that — but the only tweets were to announce his Twitter page, Facebook page and a redesign of his website.
Then came a tweet at 11:08 a.m. Wednesday: “What’s up everyone. Finally decided to try out twitter!”
Woods had just over 90,000 followers until that tweet. Within three hours, he had added over 40,000 more followers, adding them by the thousands each hour. A person confirmed that he was typing the tweet himself, and Woods added this: “Yep, it’s me. I think I like this twitter thing. You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the love.”
“Tiger wants to do some things a little differently moving forward,” Steinberg said. “He wants to be a little more connected to the fans, and this is just one new addition.”
Woods is identified at the bottom of the Newsweek op-ed piece as “founder of the Tiger Woods Foundation, which has helped educate more than 10 million kids.”
He writes about how much his life was out of balance and his priorities were out of order a year ago, when he was caught in numerous extramarital affairs that cost him three major endorsements and eventually led to his divorce from Elin Nordegren.
“At first, I didn’t want to look inward,” Woods wrote. “Frankly, I was scared of what I would find — what I had become. But I’m grateful that I did examine my life because it has made me more grounded than I’ve ever been; I hope that with reflection will come wisdom.”
Woods said he spends some evenings alone with his two children, and it’s helping him appreciate what he had overlooked.
“Giving my son, Charlie, a bath, for example, beats chipping another bucket of balls. Making mac and cheese for him and his sister, Sam, is better than dining in any restaurant,” he wrote.
He ends the op-ed piece by writing, “I’m not the same man I was a year go. And that’s a good thing.”
Steinberg said it has not been decided if Woods will make an appearance on television during the next few weeks.
Woods, who lost his No. 1 ranking two weeks ago to Lee Westwood, recently returned from two weeks of tournaments in Asia and Australia, where he posted consecutive top 10s for the first time this season, but didn’t come close to winning either one. By failing to defend his title in the Australian Masters, it marked the first time in his career he went a calendar year without a win.
He next plays the week after U.S. Thanksgiving at his Chevron World Challenge, his final tournament of 2010.
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