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On Tuesday, July 7, 2009, Peter Hartlaub from the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed me about my film festival!

What many people don’t realize is the impact of being interviewed in a major newspaper, media outlet, or AP news story. That little bit of publicity that may seem minor to many folks actually translates to increased ticket sales, increased attendance, and recognition…which then leads to increased revenue, increased assistance to filmmakers, and, yes, funding from sponsors and donors.

Visit the 2009 film festival site, or just stop by my year-round web-site for the International Black Women’s Film Festival!

• Link directly to the digital article

Click Here to Find Out More About My Film Festival!

Much has been said about the gaps between the Boomers, Generation X, andGeneration Y. The longer I live, the more evident these differences are becoming…but nothing marks these differences better than mobile technology!

Which one are you?

You Know You’re a Mobile Boomer When…

1. You still have the 1st and 2nd generation cell phones. (What? It still works!)
2. You’re really excited to have a cell phone.
3. You answer EVERY SINGLE PHONE CALL that comes in on your cell phone, or if you don’t answer every single phone call on your cell phone, then you look at your phone while it rings, and say out loud, “I wonder who that could be?”
4. You still yell into a cell phone.
5. You make sure that your ringer is REALLY loud…you know, so you can hear it.
6. You get freaked out when someone sends you a Text Message. (What do I do next?!)
7. You hold the keys down way too long, and then wonder why someone in Guam keeps picking up your sister’s phone.
8. You don’t know how many minutes are on your plan.
9. You have to put on your glasses to read your cell phone screen. (The numbers are SO SMALL!)
10. You purchase stocks in AT&T

You Know You’re a Generation X-er When …

1. You wait until your screen is scratched up and the numbers worn off before you replace your phone. (I paid a lot of money for this!)
2. You throw your cell phone into your purse or bag (Oh! When did I get a call?)
3. You ignore EVERY SINGLE PHONE CALL that comes in on your cell phone. (I don’t recognize that number…ignore.)
4. You wish people would stop yelling into their cell phones, especially yours.
5. You never turn your ringer on. (Someone better let me know when they plan to call, otherwise, good luck!)
6. You prefer Text Messages. (Why speak when you can type?)
7. You can dial, hold a separate conversation and get your subway ticket…all at the same time.
8. You try to avoid the big corporate plans. (Why pay AT&T when I can use a company that plants a tree for every minute I use?)
9. You keep wishing they’d add more keys. (See #6)
10. You purchase stock in Virgin Mobile and Creedo.

You Know You’re a Generation Y-er When …

1. You sign up for Apple alerts to know when the next iPhone is coming out. (Screw work! The new iPhone is coming out and I just bought a new sleeping bag…awww yeah!!)
2. You’re really excited to have an iPhone.
3. You answer EVERY SINGLE PHONE CALL that comes in on your cell phone, and then follow it up with a Twitter. (Hey, I got nothin’ but time, and the world needs to know!)
4. You listen to music, check your email and answer your phone…all at the same time.
5. You make sure that your ringer is the latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Rihanna song…so, you know, everyone can hear it.
6. You get freaked out by properly spelled Text Messages. (Did he really write Laugh Out Loud? That’s not funny.)
7. You slide your fingers across your phone, rather than pushing in cumbersome keys.
8. You don’t care how many minutes are on your plan. (Hey, as long as my parents keep paying for my tuition, I’m straight!)
9. You hate buttons on your phone. (They just get in the way!)
10. You purchase stocks in Apple.

In a town where you pay $4 bucks a gallon for gas, there aren’t a lot of amenities to help you strive, especially not housing. So Oakland has become my home next to my home. Folks here are as fiercely devoted to this city as the other; but sometimes, I really, really, worry about where we’re headed as a city.

Granted, every urban area has it’s unique cultures and peri-cultures (i.e., cultures that skirt the main one …”sub”-culture assumes there’s a “superior” culture), but my folks in the “O” (for Oakland, not Oprah) have their mark on some of the best peri-cultural rituals I’ve ever come across…and that’s okay!

Oakland is a car-culture city, probably only second to Los Angeles. Anything you can do to a car, Oakland’s probably already discovered it, or done it. Oakland is filled with history and epic political sagas, but for some reason the Sideshow and how annoyingly loud you can make your vehicle seem to be the major highlights of Oakland’s charms.

This is a clip from our local KRON-TV station featuring Bubb Rubb and Lil’ Sis.

Street/Graffiti artist Jus One is doing Brooklyn proud by creating one of the best examples of working-class art this year…and the year’s just started!

Inspired by Barack Obama’s speech on race, class and American pride “A More Perfect Union,” Jus One tagged up a wall with an excerpt of the speech and a blazoned image of B-Rocka (my personal nickname for him!). All I can say is B-Rocka rock on…!

I’ve heard rumors –which I’m not going to spread here– and I’ve loyally closed my ears to them. She performed here in Oakland at the Paramount Theater, and the reviews were merciless.

In this interview, she’s doesn’t seem “present,” but she does have some deep insight into the current state of hip-hop. Whatever the issues are, everyone please send your love and good vibes to elevate this sister back to her rightful place on the throne of hip-hop!

Check out the interview below:

(Doh! The interview got gaffled…but wait! There’s plenty of photos!)

Richard Howard, then poetry editor of the Paris Review, was claiming that the best writers rise to the top of the literary world naturally, and Gilb disagreed, saying no way. It’s the best-connected writers from the right backgrounds who rose to the top. Gilb’s PEN/Hemingway Award-winning story collection, “The Magic of Blood,” for instance, wasn’t published by a New York publishing house with untold millions of dollars at their disposal, but by the University of New Mexico Press.

–Eric Miles Williamson, “A good label for Dagoberto Gilb? Try good,” SF Chronicle: Insight, Sunday, March 2, 2008

Eric Miles Williamson wrote a fantastic essay on how the literary world (and society, in general) dispute the impact of an Ivy League degree on whether or not you’re recognized as an author. He goes even deeper to discuss how writers from communities-of-color are often relegated to a sub-class of writers, and never given credit for just being a good writer… He uses his insightful discussion with Dagoberto Gilb as a catalyst for further observation on the topic.

If you know anything about Black music in America, then you’re already familiar with the traditions of the New Orleans Brass Bands. One of the family branches of jazz, brass bands are integral to the New Orleans experience. They’re present at celebrations and funerals, and one of America’s jazz greats grew up in its traditions: namely, trumpeter Louis Armstrong.

Brass bands not only play traditional dirges and upbeat Crescent City standards like “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In,” but they also enliven pop and soul standards, much like the marching bands of historically Black colleges in the south.

As a part of my blog, I’m going to start highlighting the best examples of my term “pure school.” Folks have been asking me to define it with examples, which is fine because it’s another term I don’t want taken out of context and misinterpreted.

The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a wonderful example of the presence of younger African Americans who are trying to keep our traditions alive, pure and unadulterated. Generations X and Y are always dismissed by Baby Boomers (at least in the African American community) as destroying the African American community’s traditions. Well, you can’t keep a tradition alive if your elders refuse to pass it on or you have to pry it out of their hands. The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a pleasant reminder of those who are gently keeping the traditions alive, while still understanding that time moves on –as will traditions.

Here’s a performance with Mos’ Def. Though we it’s hip-hop, you can still identify the pureness of the music, and of real-live musicians! Check it out…

I don’t normally write about zombies, but this couldn’t be ignored…

Columnist Peter Hartlaub is not going to let the threat of zombie-dom get past the laid back hippie-ness of San Francisco! I’m actually taking on online course now because you just never know. I’m also loving the egalitarian whoop-assness to zombie-dom. To quote Peter:

“Remember: All zombies are created equal: Try not to focus too much on a zombie‘s profession, relationship to you or disposition in a previous life. Because the Fred Rogers zombie is just as likely to eat you as the Hitler zombie.”

www.zombiewalk.com

SFGate Article: Great article: SFGate: Culture Blog : Great moments in zombie survival literature

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Alot of folks have missed the boat on the amazing HBO series THE WIRE. Some people were turned off by the violence (duh, it’s HBO), others just didn’t have HBO and others just plain didn’t “get it.”

Well if you’ve never seen or heard of it, now is your chance to catch the last season. (*Sniff*) THE WIRE is one of the best written and best performed series; it’s not to be missed…again.

It’s a thinking person’s series, so be ready for adult storylines that don’t sugarcoat issues that effect urban America and corrupt politicians and police departments. It’s about race, class, and crime –street crime, board room crimes, political crime, and crimes of injustice…but it’s all good.

SLAM and BRINGING OUT THE DEAD actress Sonja Sohn brings quality acting and a whole being to the character Det. Shakima “Kima” Greggs, who is a “to the bone” po-lice who’s juggling her career and her life as she has a new family to raise with her girlfriend. Watch for other knock out performances, especially from Felicia Pearson who plays a hardcore gang member who runs with the best of them.Another perk: some of the finest Black men you will ever see (all at one time) in a series. Past and current cast members include Idris Alba, Wood Harris, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jamie Hector, Method Man, and JD Williams. (Yes, you will get “the vapors” so keep the smelling salts handy…)

Crime doesn’t pay on the docks, the streets, the police station, City Hall, or in the press…watch the series to understand that statement. Rent previous episodes on Netflix.

Not to be missed!

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The first time I watched Fellini’s SATYRICON, I had the same reaction I had after watching the horror film JACOB’S LADDER –namely, “What in the hell did I just watch?” Though not a horror film, it brings the same surrealist sensibilities as any other Fellini film, including NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, CASSANOVA and the classic LA DOLCE VITA. As an Italian film, it’s more sexually blatant than any non-porn American film of the time (1960’s).

THAT’S what threw me off! I watched it thinking I had just witness late-60’s soft core porn and exploitation, but on second viewing, it wasn’t that at all. Why would this film be included in VIVID.ID? It’s filled with Black women characters, but they have virtually no speaking parts but represent larger ideas of salvation and redemption!

Set in imperialist, ancient pagan Rome and on Petronius¢ “Satyricon” and Roman frescoes, this film’s commentary on the hedonism and exploitation will shock and disturb many viewers. However, if you’ve ever seen any episodes of HBO’s ROME, it shouldn’t surprise you…at all. Our protagonist is a young man surviving and finding his way through the dangers of ancient Rome. If you thought being a fine young woman in ancient Rome was dangerous, try being a fine young man. If you understood that sentence, then you that you’re going to have to leave your righteousness at the door to see SATYRICON.

The absurdist storyline follows the young man as he blossoms into ancient Roman manhood. He is expected to find his salvation in virility and domination. He fails miserably –and many times laughably– as he attends unfamiliar pagan rites and he cannot understand why he cannot “perform” as a man, thus become a man. His dalliances are many, but he’s never in control, and hence, he is still a child destined to be led by others and ruled by women.

It isn’t until he meets with various Black women in Rome that he finds some glimpse of the salvation and redemption he seeks in becoming a man. When he interacts with white women in his life, they appear manipulative, “social climbers,” and willing to use their sexuality as a stepping stone to greater things in life. His experiences with Black women appear to be life itself, with the act itself as the salvation to his existence and the universe. When he finally meets the consummate Black woman in Africa –who represents womanhood, wisdom, perfection and bliss– his wish is fulfilled and the act is presented as in favor of “the gods,” and as the direct acceptance of his entry into manhood by “the goddess” herself.

As I mentioned before, if you’re uncomfortable with direct sexuality within the context of excellent storytelling and filmmaking, then don’t see SATYRICON. If you’re willing to look deeper into the psyche of salvation, redemption and rites-of-passage of ancient sensibilities, then sit down and watch SATYRICON.

Other Resources:

• Fellini Satyricon, Lawrence Russell – http://www.culturecourt.com/F/Fellini/FSat.htm
• Satyricon, Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyricon_(film)
• Review of Satyricon, Dan Schneider – http://www.cosmoetica.com/B526-DES452.htm
• Fellini’s Satyricon (1969) on DVD FELLINI’S SATYRICON (1969) – dir. Federico Fellini