The "It's All Relative" Cast Brunch at City Crab

Sooooo…..After spending all day Friday getting my nephew settled in at college, I had oh like….a 4 hour catnap and then I had to be back up at 6am to make the drive back to Newport Centre Mall to return my rental truck by 8am.  I got out of the house at about 6:45am and drove down the West Side Highway to go through the Holland Tunnel to get to Jersey.  I pulled up to the rental place at about 7:30am and all was well.  I got a credit (which is always nice) because I paid for an E-Z pass reader and then got to the GWB and realized that they forgot to put it in my car.  I walked back through the empty mall and sleepily made my way to the PATH train.  I picked up what looked to be a very delicious breakfast creation fresh out of the oven and a cup of coffee and settled in for the train ride back to NYC.  I excitedly opened my breakfast creation and took a bite only to find it was dry and tasteless as hell.  I took a second bite just make sure I wasn’t dreaming (I wasn’t) and put it away to dispose of when I got back to NYC.  Is it me or do the PATH stations deliberately not have trash receptacles because eating is prohibited? (Um…I found this out when I saw the sign posted at the 33^rd Street station).  Anywhoo…my coffee was delicious.  I took an uptown bound D train and was truly dreaming of the EPIC NAP I was going to take when I got back home.  I got in around 9am, set my alarm for 12 noon and quickly fell asleep.

My alarm went off and I got up and jumped in the shower to try to wake myself up for the cast brunch that playwright Kimberly “Q” was hosting for the cast of her new play “It’s All Relative”.  The Brunch was being held at City Crab, one of my favorite NYC seafood spots downtown on Park Avenue South. 

I took the back of the A Train to 14^th Street, took the 16^th Street exit and was immediately jolted back into time by the memory of all of the fantastic birthday parties I had for myself at Rebar Lounge back in the day.  That whole block of old buildings was razed and I barely recognized it now.  But the memories still came anyway.  I took a brief taxi ride across town and when I arrived, Q was waiting at the bar for me.  She informed me that most of the cast had canceled due to prior commitments, so it was just going to be me, her & my cast mate (and fellow Pisces) Gha’il.  We decided to take the booth in the back on the main level and Q ordered a carafe of Grapefruit Mimosas

while we waited for Gha’il & surprise guest WRKS-FM Quiet Storm Host Lenny Green who was coming through for a few late birthday cocktails. Gha’il arrived shortly after we were seated and we just drank, feasted on Lobster Mac & Cheese (SO GOOD) and talked until Lenny arrived.  Q hit me over the head with the news that my beloved City Crab was closing on Sunday (WHAT???) and The Bubble Lounge downtown had already gone out of business a few months earlier.  We both agreed that NYC was (is) steadily losing its “flavor” and for the first in my life I have actually contemplated living somewhere else.

Lenny finally arrived and joined us at our booth.  I think we may have been working on our second carafe of Mimosa’s when he sat down.  I watched him as he greeted Gha’il for the first time and I just KNEW he was going to extend his hand to me like we had never met before (because he NEVER recognizes me without my makeup and when I am wearing my glasses) I gave him the evil eye and smacked his hand away and gave him a hug.  When he sat down I quickly brought him up to speed on how many times he’s met me and how many mutual friends we have….lol.  

The four of us had a lively discussion over more Lobster Mac & Cheese, Seared Ahi Tuna (You KNOW that was mine right?) Calamari and a Lobster (or crab…I can’t remember) Burger (Gha’il) and a Lobster Omelet (which ol Bougie azz Q ordered…lol).

It was a really wonderful afternoon….so wonderful that we didn’t want to leave and tried to order a FOURTH carafe of mimosas AFTER we had already paid our bill.  The Manager bribed us by offering to buy us another round of mimosas if we gave up our booth and moved to the bar (which we did).  Lenny had already left us by the time we got to the bar. 

Gha' fell in love with the bracelet I was wearing and I fell in love with this beautiful butterfly ring that she was wearing.  She suggested that we switch accessories and we could switch back the next time we were together.  I agreed and the ring quickly became my new favorite piece of jewelry!  Gha’il left after that last mimosa at the bar and Q and I sat at the bar making new friends with the ladies seated to our right.  One of them gifted me with a drink that had Gin, Lemonade & Prosecco in it (it was yummy!) when I looked up it was 7:00pm and I knew I had to get out of there to get home, get changed and make my way back downtown for the final event of the evening….Gwen DeVoe’s Private Birthday Celebration at Studio Arte. 

Q and I took a taxi uptown and I dropped her off….and I won’t deny it….I was LIT!!! I haven’t hung out with Q in a very long time and I am going to make sure that it won’t happen again (as in taking years to get together).

Thanks Q for a wonderful afternoon mama, I really enjoyed hanging out with you again!  PISCES RULE!!! Love you!

CHANGING FACE OF HARLEM....A DOCUMENTARY FILM BY SHAWN BATEY

Yesterday, I decided to ring up my mom and see if she was interested in attending a screening of a documentary film about Harlem with me.  The film is called "Changing Face of Harlem" and it was directed and produced by my neighbor (and friend) Shawn Batey.

Mom said yes and we decided that we would meet at the venue, which was All Souls Episcopalian Church on St. Nicholas Avenue.  I selected a cute pair of summer slacks in a black/white/yellow print that I had recently copped from an Ashley Stewart Sample Sale and I paired that with a yellow v-neck tee shirt and my old reliable pewter sandals.  Mom arrived via taxi all done up in pale pink and white.  

We made our way to the basement (mom rode the lift and I walked down carrying her walker) and took our seats.  The film which I think was a little over an hour long covered the early beginnings of Harlem and her heyday, the white flight, the heroin years and eventually the black flight during the crack cocaine years.  It brought us all the way up to 2012 when the film ended with the battle to keep the culture and the color in Harlem and the eventual gentrification that's happening currently.

After the film there was a lively discussion about what we watched and how folks felt about what they viewed and what is happening today.  There was quite a bit of diversity in the group that viewed the film with us and the Q&A segment was most enjoyable for both me and my mom.  It's a really great film and if you get a moment, please try to get out and see it, I guarantee you will enjoy it.  Check out their website for info on upcoming screenings and dvd information here: http://changingfaceofharlem.com/  

Nice work Shawn!  Thanks for inviting us, i'm glad I could finally make it!

Here is the trailer for the film:

Mom was getting antsy because she was hungry so we decided to make our way outside to look for a place to eat.  We narrowed our choices down to Amy Ruth's and Billie's Black.  My mom had never been to Billie's Black before so I suggested she try something new because I have been frequently and I always enjoy myself there.

The owner Adriane Ferguson was outside when our taxi pulled up and she greeted us with a smile and a hug once we got seated.  My mom remembered her instantly from us all being seated at the same table at Eda Francois & Crystal Smith's wedding reception last September.  We also passed on our condolences as we had learned just before arriving that she (Adriane) had recently lost her father.
We chatted for a few moments and then she had to leave.  We decided to go with the Sampler Platter with a side of mac & cheese and collard greens and the Ox Tails.  I am really funny about potato salad (not everyone makes it in a manner that I find to be edible) so I asked our server if I could have a spoonful to taste....(I have done this many times in the past when potato salad is on the menu and I NEVER have a problem with the chef allowing me to taste it first rather wasting a whole order by sending it back because I don't like it).  This did not happen on this particular occasion and I will only say that this particular chef/cook absolutely ruined our dining experience with her horrible attitude and I will leave it at that.  

After we paid our bill, we caught a taxi to the Bronx where we chatted for a bit, I made sure mom was comfortable and resting then I made my way back to Manhattan via the bus (I LOVE the bus y'all....don't ask me why....I just do!) as I was waiting for the connecting bus to take me home, I got a text from my friend Tonya alerting me that she was in my hood and I should come by and get a plate of food and birthday cake from Make My Cake to take home.  So I took a taxi over to 136th Street and met Tonya at the most FABU townhouse near the Schomburg Museum.  I met her family, had a nightcap and hung out for bit..... all the while salivating over of all things....their refrigerator (don't ask).  Tonya dropped me off at home where I had a glass of Sweet Red and wound up watching James Bond movies until about 2am....when I finally made myself go to sleep.

It was a great Saturday afternoon and I love hanging out with my mama!


"My mother's wonderful. To me she's perfection." - Michael Jackson

My beloved Hudson River Cafe has closed.....

This news comes via the Harlem + Bespoke Blog

Word on the street has it that The Hudson River Cafe (located behind the Fairway Market) has closed.  This is most unfortunate as I loved the brunches & the live bands that played there....I even sang there once (courtesy of Petawane & Bill Foster pulling a fast one on me...lol).  There was always a really cool vibe there.  The last time I was there I was with Marco Mays & Morris Grey....we had a blast.

Perhaps another restaurant will open there....it was (is) a really cool location....sigh....

For the full deets go here:  http://harlembespoke.blogspot.com/

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.    ~Anatole France

Lindsay Lohan to portray 70's Porn Star Linda Lovelace?

What the HEEZY??

Word on the street is that trouble actress Lindsay Lohan has just signed on to portray 70's porn actress Linda Lovelace in a biopic about her life.

Folks are saying that Lindsay's daddy, Michael Lohan is none to happy about his daughter's latest move and thinks that it (the film) will be the final nail in the coffin of her career.

Who knows? It MIGHT actually turn out to be the thing that turns her career around....lol...it's not like it hasn't happened before......Ya know?

I'mma keep on praying for Lindsay......

From the Guardian UK:

The LA Times quotes a producer on the independent production, to be titled Inferno, who confirms that Lohan has signed on the dotted line to play the star of infamous 1972 film Deep Throat. The official announcement will most likely be made at next week's Cannes film festival, which the actor is likely to attend.

"We've all thought that Lindsay would be a great choice for a while now, and we're all convinced that she is going to do it," Wali Razaqi said. "For at least a year, the director and I have gone back and forth imagining how awesome of a performance she could give if she was in the movie."

One of the first pornographic films to feature a plot, character development and reasonably high production standards, Deep Throat made a huge impact upon its release, though it was banned in the UK and was the subject of a number of obscenity trials in the US. It has been suggested that the film made more than $600m (£395m) from box office receipts and home video sales, putting it among the highest-grossing films of all time, though such figures are impossible to confirm.

Lovelace, real name Linda Susan Boreman, later denounced the film and its makers, becoming an anti-pornography activist. She said she had been forced into the career – often at gunpoint – by her sadistic first husband, Chuck Traynor.

CLICK HERE to read the full article.

Happy Birthday James Brown!!!

Happy Birthday to The Godfather of Soul who would have turned 77 years old today!!

Rest in Peace Soul Brother #1 - There will NEVER be another like you!

You were TRULY

"The Hardest Working Man in Show Business"

Riverton Houses to be sold in Foreclosure.....

I talked about the rumors flying around about this a couple of summers ago and I recently read in the AM NY paper that it's definitely happening now......

Riverton Houses in Harlem are definitely in foreclosure and will be auctioned off.

The NY Times reports:

A state judge on Tuesday ordered the foreclosure sale of the storied Riverton Houses, a middle-class Harlem enclave that ran into trouble a year ago when its new owner failed to make good on optimistic revenue projections and defaulted on his mortgage.

Justice Richard F. Braun of State Supreme Court in Manhattan ordered the sale of the complex at public auction to satisfy the owner’s $240.6 million debt. The complex sits between 135th and 138th Streets, from Fifth Avenue to the Harlem River.

Riverton, like a number of complexes during the real estate boom, was bought for top dollar in 2005 by a company led by the developer Laurence Gluck, who had a plan to increase profits by replacing tenants in rent-stabilized apartments with market-rate tenants.

“We’re about to see a wave of foreclosure sales throughout New York City,” said Harold Shultz, senior fellow at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council. “This is the first. For tenants, there’s good news and bad news. Excessive debt will be eliminated, but they will be at the mercy of the auction process as to who the new owner will be.”

In January, the owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, two middle-class housing complexes overlooking the East River, announced that they would give the keys back to the lender after they defaulted on $4.4 billion in loans.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the story......

This sucks and it has GOT to be scary for the current residents.

Damn.

JET Magazine Gets A New Look!

Looks like JET Magazine has gotten a makeover. Whaddya think fam?

The Legendary Etta James has Alzheimer's Disease

Damn. If you know me personally, you know that I have learned quite a bit about Alzheimer's disease over the last 10 years and I am SO very sorry to hear this news...

According to Rhymes With Snitch:

"Singing legend Etta James has been secretly battling Alzheimer's Disease for more than a year. Ms. James had been admitted to Community Hospital in southern California a week ago to treat an infection, but her son has revealed that his mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's over a year ago and has battled it in secret ever since. Donto James, who plays in his mother's band, says his mother is suffering from speech difficulties and has contracted the potentially-deadly MRSA virus."

Caressa Cameron is the new Miss America 2010

Congrats to Caressa Cameron from Virginia...Last night she became the 89th woman and the 8th BLACK woman (if you count Suzette Charles stepping in to fill Vanessa Williams shoes) to be crowned Miss America. The 22 year old broadcast journalism student TOTALLY blew away 53 hopefuls by belting out Beyonce's "Listen" from Dreamgirls and by telling parents that the way to combat childhood obesity was to turn off the TV & Video games and GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! (TOTALLY agree with that advice....remember when kids did that EVERY day?). She also won a $50,000 (US) scholarship.

Btw....LOVED her from the minute she put on that YELLOW evening gown...Awesome!

Continued success to you sister!

VH1 To Revisit the Murders of Biggie & Tupac

Word on the street is that VH1 is gonna try and tackle the mystery behind the murders of both Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace & Tupac Shakur.

"Launching their new half-hour series "Famous Crime Scene" on Friday, February 12th at 9pm, the first episode will take an in-depth look at the murders of Pac and Biggie which are still unsolved."

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article.

Source

Sly Stone files $50 Million Dollar Lawsuit Against His Former Manager

The BV Buzz says....Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Sly Stone (Please do NOT ask me about that hairstyle dude is rocking...lol) of the legendary funk collective, Sly & The Family Stone, filed a lawsuit on Thursday Jan. 28 for approximately $50 million against his former manager Jerry Goldstein citing fraud related charges over more than 20 years.

CLICK HERE to read the rest!

SOURCE

City High's Robby Pardio on A&E's Intervention

I have never actually watched one of those Intervention shows on A&E before but I saw this link at Rhymes With Snitch and couldn't stop watching it.

It's all about the intervention of Robby Pardio, the founding member of the 90's R&B/rap trio City High....and it was both heartbreaking and fascinating to me.....the tears flowed freely as I watched this young man battle his demons.

If you haven't seen it before you should definitely check it out. My heart goes out to him and I truly hope that this brother can get his life back.

Parents BE WARNED!!! This is what happens when you give your children everything they want and then raise your children WITH NO BOUNDARIES......

"In the final analysis, it is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings." - Ann Landers

Who Dis?

Know Who dis is?

(The brother on the right....lol NOT the white boy on the left)

It's legendary 70's funk master Sylvester "Sly" Stewart

frontman for the baddest band ever!!!
Sly & The Family Stone

According to the article that the above picture was attached to (click here to read it)

Sly is gearing up to release a new album in 2010.

Btw...did you know that Sly's music catalog was purchased by Michael Jackson's company?

Sherri Shepherd Joins The Electric Company

Comedienne & Co-host of The View, Sherri Shepherd will join the cast of the Electric Company.

New York, NY (December 16^th, 2009) – Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street¸ is charged up to deliver a second season of the hit show The Electric Company. The series, designed to combat the literacy crisis facing America’s six-to-nine year-olds, will premier a brand new season of 12 exciting half-hour episodes beginning January 25, 2010 and can be seen 5 days a week on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings).

Season two of The Electric Company begins with a special three-episode recurring role by kid comedian and Cory in the House star, Kyle Massey, playing Keith’s cousin, PJ. Then, following the premiere week,new episodes will air each Friday. This re-invented version of The Electric Company is designed to appeal to today’s kids with fresh animation, music videos, and exciting narrative storylines. Other celebrities turning on the power this season include: NBA superstarDwight Howard, Emmy Award-winning actor John Leguizamo, The Viewco-host Sherri Shephard, actor and rapper LL Cool J, actor Chris Massey, High School Musical star Monique Coleman and comedian andThe Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee

Source

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

He would have been 81 years old today...This Monday is the official Holiday for MLK.

How do YOU plan on commemorating this most important holiday?

Happy Birthday Dr. King!

Lol...I know I posted this song last year too....

I like it so much perhaps I'll post it EVERY year...you never know. Enjoy!

"Once a year we celebrate
Washington and Lincoln on their birth dates
And now a third name is added to the list
A man of peace, Drum Major for Justice
Now, now, now every January on the third Monday
We pay homage to the man who paved the way
For freedom, justice and equality
To make the world a better place for you and me
It's a holiday, it's a gathering
For the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King

Dr. King tried to love somebody
For his sake put your hate away, take a day
Don't play on the Holiday, work to find a better way

Oh, everybody sing
For Martin Luther King
Oh, let freedom ring
For Martin Luther King, now sing!"

R&B Crooner Teddy Pendergrass Dies at 59

I was saddened to hear this news from Yahoo News. This brother was most certainly big in my house!! Growing up in East Harlem, EVERYBODY had at least ONE Teddy Pendergrass record in their collection....Erry'body with an ounce of talent wanted to sing like him and grown men wanted to be like him...I had the pleasure of catching him live several times...both times at NYC's legendary Apollo Theatre where I saw him with Harold Melvin & The Blue Note and then a few years later when he went solo. Even now I chuckle at the memory of grown women tossing their panties at him on stage...He was an AMAZING performer who left us with some PHENOMENAL music to remember him by....Sigh...Once again we are left with yet ANOTHER pair of shoes that may be impossible to fill in the music industry.

Rest in peace Brother Teddy P.

NEW YORK – Legendary singer Teddy Pendergrass, dead after a long illness at age 59, spent his last 28 years in a wheelchair, left to wonder what life might have been like had a car crash not completely altered his destiny.

Before the crash, Pendergrass was one of the most electric and successful figures in music. He established a new era of R&B with an explosive, raw voice that symbolized masculinity, passion and the joys and sorrow of romance in songs such as "Close the Door," "It Don't Hurt Now," "Love T.K.O." and other hits that have since become

classics.

He was an international superstar and sex symbol. His career was at its apex — and still climbing.

Friend and longtime collaborator Kenny Gamble, of

the renowned production duo Gamble & Huff, teamed with Pendergrass on his biggest hits and recalled how the singer was even working on a movie.

"He had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very, very successful recording artist and as a performing artist," Gamble said Thursday. "He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans."

Pendergrass, who was born in

Philadelphia in 1950, suffered a spinal cord injury in a 1982 car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down — still able to sing but without his signature power. The image of the strong, virile lover was replaced with one that drew sympathy.

But instead of becoming bitter or depressed, Pendergrass created a new identity — that as a role model, Gamble said.

"He never showed me that he was angry at all about his accident," Gamble said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "In fact, he was very courageous."

Pendergrass died Wednesday in suburban Philadelphia, where he had been hospitalized for months.

The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had "a difficult recovery."

"To all his fans who loved his music, thank you," his son said. "He will live on through his music."

CLICK HERE to continue reading the full story on the life and legacy of Teddy Pendergrass.

"Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts and Monte Carlo's
And El Dorado's I'm waking up out of my slumber feeling like Ralo
So follow it's showtime at the Apollo
Minus the Kiki Shepard what about a ho in a leopard-print
Teddy Pendergrass cooler than Freddie Jackson
Sippin a milkshake in a snowstorm
Left my throat warm in the dorm room at the AU
We blew hay too, athletes might take you
But you must have me mistaken with them statements that you make
Cause...." - So Fresh So Clean - Outkast

Happy Birthday Elvis!!

The King of Rock & Roll would have been 75 years old today.

Happy Birthday!!!

Girl Happy was my most FAVORITE Elvis movie ever!!!

Lol...I still know ALL the words...

Tavern on the Green to close on Dec. 31st...

Tavern on the Green, a restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of New York City, is counting its last days of operation as the 1934 restaurant will serve its last meals on the 31st of December....(Uh..yeah...that would be TOMORROW!)

click here to get the rest of the dirt!

Not for anything....when I was a kid growing up in East Harlem...EVERYBODY in the hood dreamed of having their "fairy tale" wedding (complete with horse drawn carriage) at Tavern on the Green!!! I mean we saw enough about it in the movies and of course if you had your wedding reception there...it definitely made the NY Times social pages!! Of course back in it's heyday, their admittance policy was VERY exclusive...so you KNOW that dream wasn't HARDLY happening for too many folks that looked like me...lol

Quiet as it's kept "we" did manage to infiltrate the red ropes on many occasions after the sun went down...(Encore Models to the floor please...lol)..back in the early 90's for some kick azz parties...and because it WAS Tavern on the Green...you HAD to be dressed your absolute best! It was a marvelous time to be young, black & vibrant in New York City and I will miss the institution itself dearly....For my generation it was THE epicenter of high society (white or black) and if you hadn't been there, you hadn't arrived.

I recently attended a party at Tavern on the Green over the summer and the evidence of it's decline was everywhere including the caliber of guests and the obvious lack of any real dress code. I knew it was over for them the minute I walked through the doors, gone were the days of high glamour and elegance; the sheer excitement of pulling up to the brightly lit up driveway was no longer there. The once familiar scent of money being in the air was non existent. The hallways that held memories of beautiful delicately colored ball gowns, tuxedos & dinner jackets were now cluttered with scantily clad women, young (and not-so-young), young men dressed like pimps with no sense of decorum on the dance floor. The dark, hot and sweaty party rooms reminded me of house parties from back in the day. The staff was polite but generally bristled if they actually had to talk to you. The garden area was still beautiful that summer evening and the chairs and tables were filled with couples who had come outside to get some air. From the outside it reminded me of a great big black people greenhouse with the windows all steamed up...lol.

Like I said...I knew it was the end of an era that night.

Happy Birthday Lee Ann & Darren!!!

Today is my mom's 65th birthday and yesterday was my baby bro's 43rd....The family all gathered together yesterday in "da Boogie Down" to celebrate them both!!

We had plenty of this:

Courtesy of my Baby Sis....For the Record....My girl can THROWDOWN in the kitchen!!! Her honey BBQ Wings are ridiculously good!!! If you make a late arrival to ANY of our parties....you are definitely gonna miss out on the wings....they are ALWAYS the first thing to go!!!

And some of this to wash it all down.....

A glorious time was had by all....lol...I love my family....I really do!

Happy Birthday Mama & B!!! I hope you enjoyed your birthdays!

Legendary MUA Quietfire Dead at 58

Quietfire, former model turned international makeup artist who was the creative director of Black & Blue Cosmetics departed this earth, Monday, June 22, 2009 at 6:02 pm. He is survived by family and scores of friends.

He worked with many celebrities including Whitney Houston, Carol Alt, Kim Alexis and Diahann Carol. His work has graced the pages of American Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Italian Vogue, Essence and Ebony magazines. On the runway and in print advertisements, he has also worked with designers, Chloe and Mila Schon as well as on the movie “Waiting to Exhale” before entering into a partnership with Adrianne Washington.

CLICK HERE to read the rest.

Back in the days when I was still a struggling "newbie" model on the scene....Quietfire was the name on EVERY model's lips. He was responsible for Whitney's signature look at the beginning of her ascension from singer to superstar.

When Whitney launched her management company "Nippy Inc"...EVERYBODY wanted Quietfire to "beat their faces!!"

I had the opportunity to work alongside him as Designer Douglas Says premiered his new "Plus-U Collection" last year.

His death is a great loss to the entertainment community. He will be missed.

Memorial services for Quietfire will be held

Thursday, July 2, 2009, 7:00 pm, at

Benta’s Funeral Home Inc.,

630 Saint Nicholas Avenue,

New York, New York 10030-1099,

Telephone: 212-281-8851.