Waiting to Lick a Hot Soup.

“Sex is a gift from God in which you are one with another person. There is nothing wrong with sex and sexuality. God created both for the enjoyment of MARRIED couples. In our society, waiting for marriage to have sex is often considered a practice of the past. Yet, the effect of sex on our spirits is unchanging. When you have sex with someone, you’re leaving them a piece of yourself, and taking a part of them with you…” – Meagan Good and Devon Franklin in their book, WAIT.

The LoveOasis Magazine.

The issue #12 of the adorable and glamorous LoveOasis Magazine is out. You can read it free by clicking on the following link: http://www.magaden.com/issue.php?id=13&volume=4

The Hues and Cries Over Oscar Snub of Selma.

"I guess we’re not free at last.

Ha! That’s the quote right there...

“Guess we’re not free at last, not free at last,

we’re not — according to the Academy — free at last!” - Spike Lee (In response to the question "What did you think of the Oscar voters’ snub of Selma director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo?”)

I’m still trying to understand what all the hues and cries are all about in regard to the Oscar voters’ snub of the movie, Selma. Where is the surprise? In a 2012 survey, the Los Angeles Times found out that the “Academy” was 94% white, overwhelmingly male and with a median age of 62. The problem now therefore is this: with about 7,000 members, and no mandatory retirement, diversity among the Oscar-voters is going to take a very long time to manifest.

Let’s face it. This is America. The same good, old America. Everything in God’s own country always have something to do with race. It’s only worse in certain socio-economic sectors of the nation. And one of those sectors is the movie industry. That’s where an individual makes bundles of money by pretending to be someone else. As for the product of each endeavor though, considerations for rewards are based more on race than the actual creativity invested.

In the world of make-believe, whenever a movie is produced or directed by a black person, it’s automatically at the mercy of the cynical, nose-thumbing mainstream media that is dominated and controlled by the whites. The first objective of a majority of media “reviewers” is to promptly brand the artistic work a “black movie”. And this is done with a red, hot iron. With this negative branding as a foundation, the “black movie” will now be subjected to every bit of ignorance the “reviewers” can muster. Ask Tyler Perry.

Therefore, whatever the white-male-dominated Oscars’ voters come up with will merely be a follow-up to the earlier “hatchet man job” of the mainstream media. That’s how it’s been done and that’s how it will be done for a long time. Those Oscar-voting guys are especially allergic to any movie that is historically-rich and those that celebrate anything positive about the black cultures. Otherwise, movies such as Malcolm X, Red Tails, Hurricane, Akeelah and the Bee and several others would have picked up several Oscars.

It’s however “a different kettle of fish” where a movie is based on the holocaust or “mainstream” American history. No matter how silly it appears, such a movie will have all the “reviewers” and Oscar voters falling all over themselves in adoration. The same goes for any movie produced or directed by Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and a host of other “anointed guys” of Hollywood. The club is not only elitist but also controlled by white men. Therefore, what better way to prevent the director of Selma from rubbing shoulders with these elites in Hollywood than to deprive her of an Oscar nod? If only Ms. DuVernay was white, a man and possibly named Spielberg or Eastwood, Selma would have been drowned in Oscar nominations.

There is one major consolation though. Selma will remain a great movie.

Remembering Teddy Pendergrass.

Yesterday marked the 5^th anniversary of the death of Teddy Pendergrass (1950– 2010). TP, as he was fondly called by his fans, was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter. In the late 1979s to early 1980s, no serious party could ever be complete without the DJ featuring some of Teddy Pendergrass’ songs. He was among the very few authentic R&B singers of our time. These days, almost every charlatan pretends to be an R&B singer even though all they do is make some silly, rambling noises on a manipulated microphone.

Teddy Pendergrass actually started out as a drummer for the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. It was while in session one fateful day with the group that he sang along while on the drums. Startled by the powerful vocal of the then young man, the leader of the group decided right there that TP would henceforth be the lead vocal. And by the late 1970s, he proceeded on a successful solo career. Unfortunately, his career was at the very peak in 1982 when, after a party at his residence, he crashed his Rolls Royce onto a tree in Philadelphia while taking a friend home. The accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. Later on in his life, he founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a foundation that helps those with spinal cord injuries. Pendergrass commemorated 25 years of living as a victim of spinal cord injury with a star-filled event. It was titled, “Teddy 25 - A Celebration of Life” at the Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. On January 13, 2010, he died of respiratory failure at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia.

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SONY Pictures and its Peculiar Mess.

What a peculiar type of mess this is for SONY Pictures! In the aftermath of the leakage of her very crude and ignorant remarks about President Obama and some black movie stars, Sony Pictures co-chairman, Amy Pascal has begun a "healing process" by reaching out to some black leaders.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the woman said she “want to accept responsibility for these stupid, callous remarks."

In the leaked email exchanges between her and a producer (Scott Rudin) the duo mocked movies that featured black actors and joked about the president's possible interest in them. Examples of such movies the two "messed up" in their e-mails were DJango and 12 Miles.

What a time for a scandal like this to come up! Hackers or no hackers, this woman did demonstrate a lack of character and discretion. Someone at her level of corporate ladder should have known better than to “run her mouth” so recklessly. Sometimes, I wonder how some of these so-called corporate top shots got to their leadership positions. And now Amy Pascal thinks all she needs to sweep the stinks under the carpet is merely by reaching out to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson?

Al Sharpton: The Gold Fish has no Hiding Place.

When the news broke the other day that one of the highly visible and vocal civil rights activists in the black community, Rev. Al Sharpton owed some money in unpaid taxes, I was not really surprised. Guys like that, in spite of the pious image they portray to the public, usually have some stinking skeletons in their cupboards.

I was however surprised to learn that the amount he owed was in the sum of $4.5 million! According to an investigation conducted by the New York Times, Sharpton “regularly sidestepped” taxes, rent and other bills. His non-profit organization National Action Network alone owes over $1 million in overdue payroll taxes. Now, how could taxes be deducted from the employees of his organization without the same taxes being remitted to the Internal Revenue Service?

For Al Sharpton, it is a double moral tragedy.

In his desire to fight for justice and the civil rights of other people, Al Sharpton does not necessarily have to be a holy angel or a saint. But he is not only a sundry civil rights activist but also someone who strongly lays a claim to religious leadership, a factor on which rests the bulk of his reputation. For this factor therefore, he definitely needs to be morally above board.

And in silly attempt at self-defense, Sharpton appeared on the CNN yesterday saying that the reported $4.5 million was the original figure he was ordered to pay back in 2008, but that he has been making regular payments since then and the amount is now less. Pleaseeeee! Can someone please tell this guy that whether 2008 or 2014, he has no moral right to owe taxes, period!

Sharpton cannot, on the one hand, strive to be seen as a respected “man of God” that is playing “savior” all over the place while, on the other hand, he is grossly shirking in his civic responsibility to pay taxes in his individual capacity and as a business man who owns some for-profit companies such as Raw Talent and Revals Communications.

If a famous, money-making public figure such as Al Sharpton refused to pay taxes why should poor, ordinary folks like me pay?

Angelina Jolie: Dares to be Different.

According to news report, Angelina Jolie was, penultimate Friday at Buckingham Palace, made an honorary Dame in the list of recipients issued to mark the British Queen Elizabeth's birthday. The title recognizes Jolie's work in founding of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) and the contribution she has made toward the British foreign policy objective of ending sexual violence in conflict.



The actress and humanitarian, 39, had a private audience with the Queen, 88, who presented her with the physical symbol of her recently bestowed title of honorary Dame – the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George.



I have a whole lot of respects for this lady. She is just one of the very few Hollywood celebrities that I care about. Majority of them can only attract a sneer from me. Yet, this has nothing whatsoever to do with her works as an actress, her beauty or her fashion. Rather, I cherish the fact that she dares to be different. Most of the Hollywood people, and especially the women, are often too busy idolizing their bodies, parading intimate body parts or getting involved in one scandalous issue or the other. And while these silly stuff are being pasted on pages of gossip magazines and all over the internet, Angelina Jolie is somewhere in a remote corner of the world doing some humanitarian works.

 

 

 

Poor Jill Scott and her Hacked Nude "Selfies".

I am still wondering about the hues and cries attracted by the hacked nude “selfies” of Jennifer Lawrence, Jill Scott and other female celebrities who are obviously “suffering” from overt narcissism. Worse than vanity, narcissism occurs when a person (usually a woman) places too much attention or admiration on their sense of beauty and general appearance.

Why, in the world, would those women (the so-called victims of hackers) go to the vain extent of taking nude “selfies”? Other than some silly hackers, anyone else could have stolen their phones and made a worse mess of those women than the hackers have done.



And now, there were those in the black community who felt Jill Scott did not get much “help” from the feminists fighting the hackers’ “injustice” against Jennifer Lawrence and some other white celebrities. These defenders of Jill Scott’s “moral virtues” were of the opinion that the “white feminists” were racists by not extending their “assistance” to Jill Scott because of her skin color. What arrant nonsense!

In the first place, what were Jill Scott’s objectives for taking nude "selfies"? Was mere looking in the mirror not enough for her? As for those blaming the so-called "white feminists", I guess they need to see the reactions on the internet. Most of the negative reactions to Jill Scot's nude "selfies" came from blacks (men and women).

Some black women actually wondered what Jill Scott thought she was doing by "flaunting" a shapeless body. And some black men "advised" her to go participate in the reality TV show called "The losers". Whether it was Jennifer Lawrence, Jill Scott or some egoistical female celebrity taking some childish nude "selfies", the act is nothing but the worst, gross level of vanity. It’s called narcissism!

 

Like Kutcher, like Cannon: The Marriage Games in Hollywood.

In the entertainment industry, ageing female celebrities have a way of dumping themselves on available young men as soon as they realize that old age is creeping on them. It’s often a case of a much younger man being used to brighten up the fading glory of an older woman. Such was the life story of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore in the aftermath of the latter’s divorce from actor Bruce Willis.

And so it was with Nick Cannon whose youthfulness “helped” boost up the public image of a much older Mariah Carey.



Lest we forget, Mariah Carey (in her younger, glorious days) got married to record executive Tommy Mottola who was about 20 years older than her. The man had earlier dumped his erstwhile wife for Mariah Carey. And as soon as her singing career hits the peak, the woman promptly dumped Mottola. But whatever goes around always comes around.



As Ashton Kutcher’s movie career got a major boost with his marriage to the older Demi Moore, so also did Nick Cannon’s career in the entertainment industry galloped upon his marriage to the older Mariah Carey. And like Kutcher who eventually dumped Moore, Cannon has also decided to crawl his way out of the marriage to Carey.

In a recent media interview, Nick Cannon tried to further shore up his image by declaring that the break-up with Mariah Carey was something initiated by him. The young man went on to state that he was ending the marriage because of Mariah's emotional state.

Marriages among celebrities have always been very low on love but very high in the uplifting of careers, egos, money and other mundane stuff. This factor alone has contributed enormously to the lowest ebb in which the sacred institution of marriage has been kicked in the entertainment industry.

 

The Drama of Kevin Hart & Torrei Hart.

The news broke the other day that Kevin Hart proposed to his girlfriend, Eniko Parrish. Now, there was no big deal in that. Every now and then, celebrities propose to their girlfriends. In this case however, it was a whole "different kettle of fish”.

Obviously, there is no love lost between Kevin Hart and his ex-wife, Torrei Hart. But it appears the two will go to any extent to demonstrate their hatred for each other.

Round One: On the day Torrei’s tv reality show, “Atlanta Exes” had its premier, the whole world got to know how Kevin cheated on her. And what did Kevin do to “retaliate”? He chose that same day to propose marriage to his girlfriend, Eniko Parrish and then had it posted on instagram.

Now, what manner of marriage proposal was that? A proposal made by a man merely to spite his ex-wife!



Round Two: Torrei was reported to have taken her crew to a strip club after her show aired. And what did Kevin do “mess up” that outing? He decided to go show-off his “freshly-minted” fiancée at the same strip club.

This time, was Kevin in that strip club coincidentally to show pride in his future wife or merely to use the poor woman (all over again) to spite his ex-wife?



While in the strip club, Kevin was said to have splashed about $40,000 all over the place…merely to make a “statement”…to spite his ex-wife!

As Torrei and her entourage gaped irritably at the melodrama of her ex-husband, she was said to have reacted that with a new man in her arms, she did not need to waste a dime in showing off.

And so, here is the bottom line: Kevin Hart is using his “fiancée” to spite his ex-wife and Torrei is using her “new” man to spite her ex-husband. What a bunch of stupid, childish fools they all are!

 

will.i.am (of the Black Eyed Peas) & "The Four Amigos."

Most times, celebrities get on my nerves. Why so? They are vain, self-loving, self-admiring, self-absorbed, self-obsessed, conceited, self-centered, self-regarding and grossly egotistic. Many of them (especially the blacks) don’t even care a hoot about giving back to their communities.

It was therefore with an impressive and appreciative heart that I read about the great, heroic feat performed by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

In 2009, four high school students from Delaware (my awesome state), Elijah, Darien, Jaiquann and Barien were accepted into their dream universities. But there was a mutual problem. They could not afford the costs. This was in spite of the fact that these young men were Field & Track stars and top academic students. In fact, they were said to have worked assiduously in a bid to help their respective single mothers.

Two of the boys, twins Darien and Barien (their father was in jail) went further to continually motivate the others to keep their grades up.

"Well, I've tried to learn from my dad's negative decisions,” Barren said. “…and it has influenced me to strive in school, and to get good grades…"

Then fate intervened one day. The young men were invited to share their story with Oprah. That was where they got the biggest “pleasant shocks” of their lives. Black Eyed Peas star (will.i.am) stepped in and gave all four boys the first-ever “i.am scholarships” that covered their tuition, books and fees for four years.



 

Trust Oprah. She did a follow-up with the young men. This was to find out how the boys were doing today. They filmed a video update, calling themselves "the four amigos."

Barien is now in his second year of pharmacy school. He will be graduating in 2016.

Elijah graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in May. "I want to get into the architectural field, so it's just been a lot of years of hard work," he declared joyfully.

Jaiquann earned his degree in education from Cabrini College and is now a teacher. He admits that he was holding back tears when he found about the scholarship.

Darien is currently attending Morgan State University in Baltimore with plans to graduate with an industrial engineering degree next year fortune enough to have a full-time position lined up for once I graduate."

Although will.i.am is the greatest hero here, the young men also deserve some commendations. They did not just cry for help. When the help finally came, the young men did not disappoint their benefactor. These great acts are worthy of emulation by the many other celebrities out there and the numerous young black folks who are desirous of a better life.

 

 

 

No Man is Ugly Except by Choice!

Are you a young man who feels ugly because some women say so? It’s time you had a rethink because no man is ugly except by choice. In fact, it’s far easier for a man to look handsome than for a woman to look pretty. And how do you do this?

1. Get a good education. It’s the ticket to a good job, a car and a home.


2. Speak and write good grammatical expressions.


3. Identify & explore your natural talents such as sports, music or acting.


4. Dress properly. Even thugs wear suits when they appear in courts.


5. Be very hard-working. And no tardiness!


6. Finally, be patient! Get-rich-quick plans only leads to jail or death.

With the adoption of the above sense of values, you will sooner or later reap the fruits of your labor. And before you know it, many women will begin to find you attractive. If you are in doubt, go ask the following guys who were once called ugly:

1. Elon Musk: Co-founder of PayPal, (Dated beautiful women like Cameron Diaz).


2. Jay Z: Rapper (Married to Beyonce and other women run after him).


3. Kevin Hart: Commedian (Once married a pretty woman and others are after him).


4. Danny Devito Actor (Married to pretty Rhea Perlman).

 

Who Gave Birth to Blue Ivy, Beyonce or Tina Seals?

On top of everything in the lives of both Beyonce and Jay Z and, most especially, the divorce rumors swirling around them, there is now something else. It is a rumor brewing with a very strong aroma around the alleged surrogate mother of Blue Ivy. So, Beyonce did not actually give birth to Blue Ivy?



A woman, Tina Seals, has filed a suit in a Manhattan court claiming that she was, in fact, the birth mother of Beyonce’s daughter. And she wants custody of the “golden child”, Blue Ivy.

According to some legal experts, there was no way Beyonce and Jay Z could lose the rights to their daughter. But this factor would depend on their alleged relationship with Tina Seals, if any such relationship existed at all.

In the state of New York, it is illegal to pay anyone to act as a surrogate. But unpaid surrogacy is not illegal. Therefore, if indeed Tina Seals did act as a paid surrogate to the power couple, she might have a legitimate case.



Incidentally, two factors are not helping Beyonce in this matter. Firstly, she is very well known to be overtly narcissistic by her grandiose and excessive interest in her physical appearance. Women in her shoes, more so, those who are celebrities usually don’t have a room for any pregnancy or motherhood in their lives. To such women, a baby tends to create some form of unwelcome rivalry.

Secondly, Beyonce did not help her case against a claim of bogus pregnancy when sometimes in 2011, TMZ revealed to the whole world how Beyonce’s purported pregnancy “collapsed” while trying to sit down on a chair (See pictures below). This made many people across the world to believe that she was wearing a prosthetic.



Maybe it’s high time the power couple came out publicly to clear the air by making their positions known on all these wild rumors flying around them. Keeping mom and pretending all are well will never help their images as celebrities of note.

Akon on Beyonce and Jay Z's Marriage.

American R&B and hip hop recording artist, Akon, has lent his voice to the raging rumors of divorce between Beyonce and Jay  Z. While the rumors takes turns and curves all over the internet and the news media, Beyoncé and Jay Z continue to carry on as if all is well. But the more the power couple puts up a public façade, the more the people out there are skeptical about their union. In the meantime, some fellow celebrities have been making their opinions known privately or publicly. One such celebrity is Akon who, in a recent interview with TMZ, observed that the so-called marriage or relationship between Beyonce and Jay Z was all about money than good old-fashioned love. Hear him:

"Their relationship has been more of a business to the outside world than an actual relationship," the "Smack That" singer said to TMZ.



Akon went further to state that "If you become a public figure and you have a relationship, your relationship also becomes public…So if you don't open up to the public, they will naturally speculate."

And that is so right! As far as Beyoncé and Jay Z's relationship is concerned, Akon's theory certainly rings true. In 2014 alone, rumors about infidelity and divorce have run rampant about Bey Z, as the two refuse to address any of the gossips head on. Though the couple is currently on tour together, the media is convinced they are heading for “splitsville”.



In fact, Beyoncé did not help matters when just last month, she changed the lyrics to a song about infidelity while on the stage, and she seemed to direct the ditty at her husband. At the same time, the same Beyonce is all over town posting “We are a happy family” pictures on Instagram, which include Jay and their daughter, Blue Ivy. Unknown to her, the woman was unwittingly adding fuel to the fire by all these fake “P.R.” which, if anything at all, are only adding to the confusions about the status of their marriage.

The important thing for both Beyonce and Jay Z to do now is to publicly make bold the actual relationship between them. Are they married for love or are the two merely a corporate couple doing all these “happy-go-lucky” stuff for money?

Lauryn Hill---What an Irony!

It's now official! Rohan Marley, son of the late Reggae star, Bob Marley, has proposed marriage to his Brazillian lover.

The 39-year-old Rohan was previously in a relationship with popular singer, Lauryn Hill for 15 years. Take note, 15 years! And in the course of those years, Lauryn and Rohan produced 5 children, Zion, 14, Selah, 13, Joshua, 9, John, 8 and 3-year-old Sarah.

Initially, when rumours began to circulate that he was dating 28-year-old Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana, Rohan vehemently denied the rumour. He tweeted saying: "Ms. Hill is the mother of my children, whom I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for. I would never do that." And this was in spite of Fontana's posted photo of herself and Rohan Marley on Twitter with the caption, "I'm in love with @Romarley 's heart."

In the height of her singing career (1998) Lauryn Hill released an album aptly titled "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill". That album sold 18 million copies over the next decade. One major track in the album was "Doo Wop (That Thing)" which was not only entertaining but also very educational. A young woman only has to listen to the track and be inspired to think deeply before opening her legs to any man. It was a grand lesson in sexuality education and especially, on the issue of indiscriminate sex.

Now that she has been dumped by her "baby daddy" and saddled with 5 kids, what will be going through the mind of Lauryn Hill? Over the course of 15 years, Rohan never considered Lauryn good enough for marriage except as a baby factory. Obviously, he must have felt that the baby-producing mama would not fit into his future scheme of things when a much younger ravishing beauty was available. Men! But whose fault?

Going through, once again, the lyrics of "Doo wop (That thing)" by Lauryn Hill, all I can think of is that some people's charities just don't begin at home. There is no doubt that a lot of teenagers and young adults must have learned one lesson or two from the inspirational song. Yet, Lauryn Hill who provided the motivation did not deem it fit to learn anything from her own counsel. What an Irony!