Big Sole Blog (BSB)

This post is pending publication at BlogHer.com.This could be a horrible thing. This post may be the proverbial train wreck the curious must watch--an opinionated heterosexual writing about a controversial topic deemed "queer," as it relates to the sensibilities and politics of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities. But I'm writing about it because, well, it's a train wreck with

What I feared has come upon me; what I dreadedhas happened to me. ~~ Book of Job, 3:25As I see Alex turn into the first hurricane of the season while oil still kills fish and wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico, I think of Job, and hope we aren't tried as he was.As we on the Gulf Coast brace for potential hurricanes this summer, which means we're praying major storm systems go away from the Gulf Coast

Thanks to Teachbx, who commented on my Examiner post about Prince at the BET Awards Sunday night, and also because of this post at the Island Mix forum and another at Prince.org, I now know the attractive bald woman who sat beside Prince Rogers Nelson is Shelby Johnson aka Shelby J. of the band Black Gypsy.She's also been, according to comments at Island Mix, a backup singer for Prince for years,

I read this story at both the New York Times and the UK Guardian about the FBI busting a Russian spy ring and wondered if I'd been sucked back to the 1950s or maybe a new version of Burn After Reading, just a bunch of craziness with no real purpose, but it's a real Russian spy story.The alleged spies, according to a Foreign Policy Magazine email, were supposed to "embed themselves in the fabric

I saw the remake of The Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan yesterday. Some critics have been hard on the movie, but I liked it. Anyway, early in the movie, while Dre, Jaden's character, is looking for Mr. Han, Jackie's character, the Gorillaz-Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Year Remix) is playing, which made me remember the original song, also called "I need a gun," which used to be

So far in Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings, it seems the GOP knows it won't block her appointment to the Supreme Court, but it will still put on a good show. According to the Huffington Post, Republican leaders surmise Kagan will be an activist judge because she admired her mentor, Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American appointed to the high court.Republican Senators are emphasizing

BET VideosI enjoyed the BET Awards 2010 tribute to Prince. He received BET's lifetime achievement award. I wish this video included his thank you speech that followed, but still this is a great clip. Prince really seemed tickled by Alicia Keys's performance, and she is a well-known Prince admirer. Furthermore, he appeared mesmerized by Patti LaBelle. Keys, who is pregnant, climbed on top the

This WWL TV story says that so many fishermen are working for BP right now that areas where the fish are safe are not being fished. Officials propose that BP pays bonuses to get fishermen back to fishing in Louisiana waters and save the Louisiana seafood industry. A lack of fresh seafood hurts local restaurants as well. Talks with BP have stalled, reports WWL.With all the concern about Gulf Coast

Bobby Jindal does his imitation of Mosesat an oil clean-up photo op. Photo by Spencer Platt of Getty ImagesAs I wrote late last night in reference to a CBS report that our La. Gov. Bobby Jindal has not deployed fully the National Guard that President Barack Obama approved, "Finally, a major news outlet is not so impressed by Jindal's hot-faced 'passion' on camera that it won't scrutinize what he

Last night, June 25, MSNBC's Dateline aired an interview with the mother of Michael Jackson as news organizations, bloggers, and fans around the world commemorated the first anniversary of his death. Katherine Jackson, who is raising Michael's children--Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. aka Prince; Paris Michael Katherine; and Prince Michael Jackson II aka "Blanket"--has written a coffee table book

At last some folks in the mainstream media seems willing to question how Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is handling response to the oil spill. Finally, a major news outlet is not so impressed by Jindal's hot-faced "passion" on camera that it won't scrutinize what he actually is doing or not doing. For instance, Jindal is not using all the National Guards troops the federal government has approved

With the Oprah show coming to an end on network television because the talk-show tycoon has started her OWN network, I wonder about all the people who dreamed of being on her show who now won't get the chance. However, they have the chance for something bigger.It's old news now that Oprah's having a contest for people to have their own show on her network. But I haven't paid close attention. So,

I've already done my Michael Jackson post commemorating the first anniversary of his passing last year, but had to add this video. I must have been taking care of my children and ex husband or something when he made this music video which features Chris Tucker and some other Hollywood faces because I don't recall it. It's another of MJ's mini musical movies.And on Twitter, Holly Robinson Peete

From the L.A. Times:William Allen Kruse, 55, a charter boat captain recently hired by BP as a vessel of opportunity out of Gulf Shores, Ala., died Wednesday morning before 7:30 a.m. of a gunshot to the head, likely self-inflicted, authorities said."He had been quite despondent about the oil crisis," said Stan Vinson, coroner for Baldwin County, which includes Gulf Shores.Additional reports say

Love this dance sequence.Today marks the first anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. I won't write much because I wrote about him often last year. Here's the link to the MJ posts here at this blog. From Examiner and BlogHer.com, I have the following posts from last year:Michael Jackson, a list of articles by me and othersMichael Jackson's Mother Gets Custody of His

Is it raining oil in Louisiana? Worse, is it raining oil with Corexit in Louisiana? I don't know. As I start this post, I'm collecting some rain in Louisiana in a container outside where it's pouring. My location is about 34 miles from Bay St. Louis, Miss. and technically closer to the Gulf of Mexico than River Ridge, La., where a video producer says it's raining oil. So, I'm about halfway

In the fallout of Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his staff's impolitic comments published in a magazine article, President Barack Obama today accepted the general's resignation. He announced his decision from the White House Rose Garden as the media anticipated the general would be fired. The president said:"... war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general, or a president.

Last night, meaning a few hours ago because it's only 12:22 a.m. right now in the New Orleans area, I watched a PBS episode of NOVA that fascinated me about cuttlefish, Kings of Camouflage. You can watch the whole video online, I've learned. I highly recommend it. The cuttlefish's ability to change the color and texture of its skin is amazing. Sometimes it appears to hypnotize its prey. And

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economyWelcome back to Obama Wheel of Fortune! Here is where we spin to see whether Lady Luck is smiling on President Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the United States of America, or frowning sourly. So far the week doesn't look good for our cool Commander in Chief. Sources such as the Huffington Post report

The AP reports and Nola.com and WWL TV repeat that U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman granted a preliminary injunction against the temporary deepwater drilling moratorium the federal government put in place since the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up and created the nation's worst environmental disaster ever. You may view Judge Feldman's ruling as a PDF here. The White House said it will

Update: Tyler Perry's responded to McGruder's satire. Read more here.Cross-posted at the African American Books Examiner. Scroll down for video.Film titan Tyler Perry as Madea, the character that made hima success.I don't know how long this Boondocks, Season 3/Episode 8 entitled "Pause," will be available online, but last night Twitter went aflutter over the show's skewering of Tyler Perry. The

BP is not only bleeding oil but also gushing damning documents about its carelessness in the DeepwaterHorizon oil spill case. To me, it feels as though each day we see some new hint of madness.A BP estimate made before the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon noted that as much as 100,000 barrels per day could leak into the ocean if the blowout preventer and wellhead were removed, a higher

After writing "The Cylons Cometh," which is about changes in science and technology over my lifetime, it seems right that I share this James Powderly video from The Creators Project. Powderly is "an engineer and designer who co-founder of Graffiti Research Lab, and most recently worked on the award-winning Eyewriter project." In this video he talks about artist Toni Kwan, who's been paralyzed by

Happy Father's Day. I also published a post about the day at the Urban Mother's Book of Prayers and included a link to an old poem about my father written in 2005. The picture of him in this post is the one I used with the poem, and it was taken in 1990 when my son was born and my dad came to Georgia to help us. My former husband, our daughter, and I had just moved into a new house, which is why

A Brand Named HumanBy Nordette N. AdamsPeople play. See me when you try to care how I see.See you when you stop chasing fame.See me when you learn my nameStop tripping 'cuz I'm deep!Lost to you and the games,I'm deep under midnight in what you call blue funkHowling in my soul's blues trunkafter hanging low to weepSee you when I rise for air.See me.See me when I rise for airafter hanging low to

I don't hide that I have some anger issues, which means I really have to put the brakes on sometimes when I read comments from people supporting Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. It's usually not that they like these people that aggravates me, but that they try to declare the two men don't make racist statements or spread misinformation. I think you can like idiots all you want, just don't pretend

I learned reading GreenLAgirl's post, "How to Snap Out of Gulf Oil Spill-Induced Depression" that BP has nixed using the oil booms made from human and animal hair collected by eager volunteers. It will use petroleum based synthetic boom instead, reported the Good blog on June 5. I missed that news, and according to the DeepwaterHorizonResponse.com press release, this decision was made May 21. The

Here's a video of BP's CEO Tony Hayward testifying before congress boiled down to four minutes. It's all you need to know to understand why people in the U.S.A. are angry with Hayward short of reading all my oil posts. This video comes courtesy of Huffington Post, where you can read the associated story, "The Man Who Wasn't There."...if I was the CEO of a major oil company (and was asked) ... "

Get links to events here.Tabitha & Napoleon D'umoGet your dancing shoes ready for July 31, National Dance Day, the vision of Nigel Lythgoe of So You Think You Can Dance. Tonight on the results show, in which Alexie Agdeppa went home, Lythgoe announced that Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo, two choreographers from the show, have choreographed a simple dance that they think anyone can do. I think it's

This post has been cross-published at at BlogHer.comIllustration: Bryan Christie designCalculating the rise and fall of science fiction books, television shows, and movies, I've determined the obvious. Science fiction is no longer dismissed easily as distractions for geeky misfits or as fanciful tales for children, and that may be because the world's observed science fiction over the years

This is just a quick hit on BP meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House yesterday (at which the figure $20 billion was tossed around). One of the quotes circulating today is its CEO Tony Hayward saying the "oil spill should never have happened." In addition, I've gathered the phrase of the day was "BP complacency." The video above tells of Hayward's woes and the fall of BP's

Despite the talk about citizen journalists and blogging pundits taking over mainstream media and giving big networks and newspapers a run for the money, I think only an idiot would claim citizen journalism has already become David whipping Goliath. If anything, mainstream media has co-opted citizen journalism to make itself stronger. Case in point, CNN today has a article about Obama as "angry

This post has been moved to BlogHer.com.Jamie Scott was allowed to leave prison for her sister's funeral.Here she holds her grandchildren. Her sister Gladys, reportsSan Francisco Bay View, was not allowed to attend.If you should find yourself falsely accused and facing prison time or worse--in prison serving time for a crime you did not commit or for a crime you committed but received an

As you will read below, Zane, the African-American author known for sizzling erotica, has a new book coming out. The Hot Box is set for release on August 10, 2010. ... More at African-American Books Examiner.

Not having an actual crystal ball, political analysts told us the health care reform battle would define President Barack Obama's presidency followed by the economy, issues not discussed much lately. But everyone get out your Ouija Boards. It's becoming clearer each day that it's not health care nor the economy, stupid, it's the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that will shape this president's

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cStephen Protherowww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorFox NewsI love Stephen Colbert's interviews with authors. How he purposely misunderstands makes me laugh; however, his show is a spoof of Fox's O'Reilly factor, and I think Bill O'Reilly does not misunderstand on purpose. He actually does not understand. Colbert