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Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 241
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 05:29 pm: | 
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'Gotham Diaries': Gossip of a City's Black Elite. Ed Gordon speaks with the co-authors of Gotham Diaries, Tonya Lewis-Lee and Crystal McCrary-Anthony. The "gossip lit" novel focuses on the African-American elite of New York City.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4635729
Christopher Johnson reports on Digable Planets, the Grammy-winning hip-hop trio that has reunited after a decade.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4631754
Federal officials want to improve the diets of poor families who depend on a federal food program. Changes to WIC -- the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children that serves 7 million Americans -- would encourage mothers to breastfeed and to use vouchers to buy fruits and vegetables.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4645825
Opera Tells Saga of 'Margaret Garner' ...As Detroit Public Radio's Celeste Headlee reports, it debuts Saturday night as an opera, Margaret Garner, with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves in the title role. Morrison wrote the libretto, collaborating with Grammy-winning composer Richard Danielpour...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4630196
Black Children in the U.S. Foster Care System. More than 500,000 children are in the U.S. foster care system, and African-American kids make up nearly 40 percent of that number. Two former foster children, clothing entrepreneur Tony Shellman and actress Victoria Rowell, discuss the promise and problems of foster care at the start of National Foster Care Month.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4633538 |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 243
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 05:47 pm: |
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Sorry, I reversed those last two URLs |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2672
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 08:09 pm: |
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"'Gotham Diaries': Gossip of a City's Black Elite. Ed Gordon speaks with the co-authors of Gotham Diaries, Tonya Lewis-Lee and Crystal McCrary-Anthony. The "gossip lit" novel focuses on the African-American elite of New York City.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4635729 "
As I listened to these 2 women (whom we only really know anything about by virtue of whom they’ve married), I thought it never ceases to amuses me how rich and famous people write these trite, boring pseudoautobiographies that they assume others will be interested in simply because, well, they’re rich and famous. |
Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 245
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 09:37 pm: |
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ABM,
THANK YOU.
I could kiss you for that.
And to think that Tonya Lewis Lee is the "wife" of Spike Lee.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2685
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 13, 2005 - 11:22 pm: |
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Kola,
You’re welcome. Though you only like me ‘cause I’m the only other kid in class who’s almost as full of (fill-in-the-blank) as you are (Hehe!).
But in hindsight, perhaps I should have eschewed posting that. ‘Cause I don’t wanna offend bigbawlah-shotcawlah Troy by disparaging some of his fellow Black fat-cat NYC’ers.
Spike might get pissed and demand that Troy revoke my posting privileges.
Hehe! |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 267
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 10:08 am: |
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they assume others will be interested in simply because, well, they’re rich and famous
**embarrassed throat clearing**
ummm, I'm kinda interested...same way I always manage to "accidently" read the Inquirer in the grocery store line, I guess...plus Lee and Lee's children's book is one of my favorites of all time...
**slinking back to my seat*** |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2692
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 10:20 am: |
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Oh No! Say it ain’t so, ‘Vette!
Don’t succumb to this vacuous celebrity tripe embarrassing disguise as…GASP!...a ‘book’.
Did you REALLY listen to the tape?
Because I challenge you to divine a SINGLE reason WHY you should read the book. The AUTHORS certainly did NOT provide such.
Stick with crap like Ebony or Upscale. You'll pretty much get the same...at less than 20% the price. |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 272
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 11:15 am: |
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Yeah I listened. And I have to admit that twice I sat down in B&N cafe and read "Gotham" and neither time could actually get up enough interest to buy the book. But now that it's in paperback...
(Be strong, Yvette. Be strong!) |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2699
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 11:22 am: |
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'Vette,
If you hold out long enough, I'm sure you'll be able to buy it as a close-out item for $3.99. |
Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 246
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 11:37 am: |
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I don't have a problem with stories about the rich and famous and SINFUL lives of blacks-----God knows I've actually LIVED a lot of that.
My gripe...
....is that the book "GOTHAM DIARIES" is soooooo boring, so ploddingly written----no imagination, just bland structure and dialogue and the same old SHOCKS....I mean come on.
They wrote this book to try and get rich. Which isn't a bad thing (I'd like to get rich, too, from writing)....but you HAVE TO delight and beguile your readers.
BLING by Ericka Kennedy was another poorly written, exhaustively boring book.
I think Sister Soulja told BOTH THESE STORIES in "Coldest Winter Ever"---with half the pages, more depth and clarity and made you BELIEVE it.
I love "trashy" soap opera books....as long as it's "good trash", and the best way to write good trash is to first acknowledge going in....that you're writing CAMP.....and that you want to shock and titillate and tantilize. And that you'll need be incredibly imaginative and clever to do so at this point.
Jackie Collins and Harold Robbins never tried to pretend that their books were anything BUT good dirty trash---that's why they were so huge.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2703
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 11:51 am: |
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Kola,
I think the issue with the book can be summed up via a simple question: Why does being married to a filmaker and ex-NBA'er prepare you to be a writer? |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 276
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 12:01 pm: |
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If you hold out long enough, I'm sure you'll be able to buy it as a close-out item for $3.99
True, that! LOL. OK, I'll wait and visit Half Price Books in a coupla months. (Or, better yet, go to my public library.) |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2706
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 12:03 pm: |
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Yvette: "Or, better yet, go to my public library."
ABM: Or, better yet, avoid it altogether and preserve your neurons for something that's REMOTELY worth the effort. |
Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 248
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 12:30 pm: |
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Yvette,
Have you read "THE HONEYWELL" by Gloria Mallette?
Now that's what I call good quality ESCAPISM.
Anything by Mary Monroe (although she borders on literary shores).
Of course, there's ZANE and Eric Jerome Dickey.
But my all time FAVORITE "Pop" novels are:
"Valley of the Dolls" by Jaqueline Susann
"Whoreson" by
"Once Is Not Enough" by Jaqueline Susann
"Sinners" by Jackie Collins
"If Tomorrow Comes" by Sidney Sheldon
"Goodbye Jeanette" by Harold Robbins
"Mandingo" by ___________
"Wifey" by Judy Blume
"Chances" by Jackie Collins
"Bridget Jones Diary"
IF I was going to write a "trash" novel---which I would love to do under a psuedonymn, it would be titled:
"The Damned Don't Cry"
"Baptist Church Wife"
"Thought 'Choo Knew"
"Black Bitch"
"The Queen of Making Money, The Queen of Forgiveness"
"Damn, Daddy, Damn"
"Scenes from Black Hollywood"
"Give Me Something To Cry About"
WRITING is like "preaching" or "singing".....you have to come on with the shit or don't come at all.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2710
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 12:41 pm: |
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Kola,
How about about the following:
"'K Now Dat B*+#$ Just GOT to go!"
"Everything Except a Ho!"
"Bin Laden, Done Dat!"
"But I Swear I Ain't a Dyke!"
"LAWD! When Will You Make Cynique Die!"
You know what I mean, wholesome, family, 'feel good' stuff. |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 279
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 12:51 pm: |
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LOL!
ANYhoo. How 'bout them Insects! I can't wait for the new Digable Planets stuff. |
Mahoganyanais
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mahoganyanais
Post Number: 420
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 12:51 pm: |
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Y'all are KILLING me with these titles! Too. Funny. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2717
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 01:13 pm: |
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'Vette,
"I'm cool like that, I'm cool like that...I'm chill like that [that $#*+ was whack!).
Mah,
Don't worry. I didn't forget about you:
"The Maintenance Man & Me"
"Nerds Needs Lovin' Too"
"Sooo! At Least I Went to Yale"
"...And I Graduated Too"
"So N*%%@ Do Everything I Say"
"...'Cuz Dis B*+%# Is Smarter Dan YOU!" |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 281
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 01:23 pm: |
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Kola, I haven't read many of the titles you mentioned. That I can remember, anyway. I used to bum my roommate's trashy beach reads back in college. Actually the writing in them wasn't poor and you're right, it helps when writers acknowledge that they are not trying to write "great lit-tra-tuuuure" and just concentrate on providing a good, escapist time.
I'm gonna eventually get to Zane and your stuff and others...My husband will have a cow if I bring any more books in this house, but I guess in the end love will prevail.
(It's getting bad now--I love spending hours at discount and rare book stores and recently I have been making great discoveries only to get home and find the same book already on my shelf...) |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 282
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 01:23 pm: |
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Kola: Not saying your work is trashy. Just that it is included on my list of books I want to read eventually. |
Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 249
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 02:02 pm: |
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LOL
No offense AT ALL, my sister.
Yvette.....my work is actually "literary fiction"---but there's a DEFINITE seamy side, some real good "trash"....ALWAYS in my books. I love good melodrama and good TRASH, because that's the "flavor"--the "fat" in real life.
I am greatly inspired by Sidney Sheldon, Jaqueline Susann, and don't forget---I learned ENGLISH from watching soap operas.
Josef Von Sternberg movies of the 1930's (ie. Marlene Dietrich's "Morocco" and "Garden of Evil") GREATLY influenced me, because his direction is very sensual and NILOTIC to my eye.
I thought Rosaria's ~~VIOLATION~~ of RooAmber in my book "Flesh" was campy---but very well written.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 2728
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 02:15 pm: |
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Kola: "I thought Rosaria's ~~VIOLATION~~ of RooAmber in my book "Flesh" was campy---but very well written."
ABM: Yeah. I'm sure some of your Alice Walker roaddawgs got off on dat one. RUFF! RUFF! RUFF!
<<lickin'&pantin'>> |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 292
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 01:35 pm: |
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Great, Kola--I look forward to some fun summer reading! |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 423
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:02 am: |
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More good NPR stuff:
"Reviving Mississippi Delta a Long, Slow Process"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4679733
"Growth Spurt: The Rise of Tutoring in America"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4676496
"Spinning Brand Synergy in Music Videos"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4695458
"Kipen on Books: The State of the Publishing Industry"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4694434
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