Big Sole Blog (BSB)

This just in from Dizzy Feet. WOW! Looks like National Dance Day is a success. The photo below was tweeted by Nigel Lythgoe of So You Think You Can Dance and the Dizzy Feet Foundation. He says it comes from today's festivities on the mall in Washington D.C. Waiting on video. See more pictures, perhaps, here. You can also follow the hash tag on Twitter, #nationaldanceday, and as I've said before,

I just published a post at Examiner.com about the latest Anne Rice flap regarding her Facebook post saying she "quit Christianity." A more careful reading of her remarks reveals that while the novelist is disillusioned with organized Christianity, in particular the Roman Catholic Church, she's still a believer. Rice will still quote the Bible and share her faith in Christ Jesus, but she's fed up

Contributions from Charles H. Fuller to America’s literary heritage have been rich, theatrical plays based in historical fact that feature adults struggling with racial injustice and each other. So, it’s unsurprising that his much-awaited new release also draws from American history. That, however, is where the similarity with the playwright's older works thins.Fuller's latest offering, Snatch:

Did anyone else notice that Bollywood choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan of So You Think You Can Dance stressed during last night's episode that Bollywood draws from many world dance styles? I think that was Mahajan's chance to correct what Mia Michaels said three weeks ago when she criticized AdéChiké for adding an African flavor to his Bollywood moves. As I hoped to convey in my post after that

Under the CoversBy Nordette N. AdamsUnder cover of scars crissrossing the torso, purple-blue etchings mesh into one nest stubborn spirits of slurs escaped from inept exorcisms, hiding an impostor's beat. This metronome times the rise of withering supplications. Alone, she skates figure eights, the eternal curve. If only she could swerve off the deepening grooveto sail a new arc high through air,

What is WikiLeaks.org and why is it in the news? The White House says the website is a security risk. Here are some resources so you can learn more.The WikiLeaks.org website appears to be offline currently, probably because it's getting so many hits or maybe its enemies are jamming it. According to a post at The Guardian's Comment is Free, WikiLeaks is "a Sweden based non-profit website that

I'm taking a blog break. I may pass through with three-sentence post and links just to remind the Google and Bing people that the blog is still alive or maybe I'll post a poem or two, but my brain needs a vacation. I am on break until further notice.Thank you all for your support.Nordette

I'm still on my blogging break, but ...Update, July 23, 2010: President Obama was on Good Morning America to talk about financial reform, but he also answered a question about his telephone conversation with Shirley Sherrod and addressing race in America.Update, July 22, 2010: President Obama calls Shirley Sherrod to express "sincere" regret."The president told Ms. Sherrod that this misfortune

Rizzoli and Isles: Fast, painless way to kill yourself is atlanto-occipital disarticulation. In other words, internal decapitation; head separates from spinal cord, which may be accomplished by hanging if you don't botch it. If you mess it up, then you're strangled, which is a painful way to die. Or you could crash your car and hope the air bag hits your head with enough force to snap it up. How

At this link you'll find a round-up of articles, press releases, and FAQs about cuts to the State of Louisiana budget. The focus of the list is education, and I compiled it mainly as a resource for myself as I try to understand how the money flows. Visit here.

You can share your plans for National Dance Day, July 31, at the So You Think You Can Dance Facebook page, and there's also a form at the Fox website. However, make sure you share those plans before midnight tonight, July 16, if you hope they are shared on the show next week.I posted the Tabitha and Napoleon routine weeks ago at this link and said back then I thought the hope was for flash mob

I watched 12 Angry Men on Turner Classic Movies with my son night before last, the 1957 film directed by Sidney Lumet. It's one of those films that reminds you that black and white with no car chases and provocative dialogue can be more riveting that today's special effects-driven blockbusters.So much of it reminded me of the flow of some political Internet conversations that I said, "The more

I am trying to ignore all the doomsday scenarios arising as people project their fears onto the BP Deepwater Horizon leak in the Gulf of Mexico. I prefer to keep a positive mindset, as reflected in one of my poems about the disaster. However, I do read about the fear such as those Gena Haskett explored in her post about doomers and the BP oil spill. Last night, I saw the following in my mail, a

The New York Times has two must-read articles, "A Few Blocks, 4 Years, 52,000 Police Stops," which was published today, and this op-ed by Bob Hebert published in March, "Watching Certain People." I am not writing on this topic, but I wanted to share this because I am appalled. The most recent article includes video of police giving tickets for tresspassing to people who visiting relatives or

First, you step into the romantic stream and infatuation carries you away. He's saying you've got him "Going in Circles" by Luther Vandross. It's the same song you used to hear on the radio when you were nine recorded by "Friends of Distinction." You're also in circles over him, and so, you really want this love affair because it feels like what you think love should feel like based on movies,

Another poem about the oil leak/spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 2010.Gold and Black to Black Gold BluesBy Nordette N. AdamsRemember when the Saints had us so high,so high that low meant do the slower second lineand the dirge signaled juke joint jig?Remember when New Orleans won the Super Bowland none could silence our wild Tchoupitoulas,Who Dat! hearts? The whole world laughedand leaped to the beat

The following is CNN video of one of Oscar Grant's family members speaking to media about the verdict convicting former Bay Area Transit officer Johannes Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter in Grant's shooting death at the start of 2009. That was the least of the possible criminal offenses of which he could have been convicted. Per CNN:The verdict was announced in Los Angeles, where the trial

On tonight's So You Think You Can Dance results show, judge Mia Michaels, who was recently nominated for an Emmy again for choreography, apologized to contestant AdéChiké Tolbert. While the 23-year-old, Brooklyn dancer escaped being in the bottom three, he looked a little fragile with host Cat Deeley's arm around him as Michaels tried to make amends and explain herself. She said:I feel looking

Last night on So You Think You Can Dance, horror of horrors! We learned the amazing Alex Wong was injured rehearsing for a Bollywood routine with AdéChiké Torbert and may have to leave the show. I'm not being snarky. I really do like Alex.Alex is amazing! So, is host Cat Deeley. I love SYTYCD in general, but I specifically hate how the judges handled AdéChiké last night. Mia Michaels, who I tend

Bobby Jindal does his imitation of Mosesat an oil clean-up photo op. Photo by Spencer Platt of Getty ImagesI've been posting a little less as I try to concentrate on literature and how to be still/silent, but I must stop and tell you, friends, that our governor, Bobby Jindal, believes you will get closer to the Lord if you take your gun to church. Well, guns have indeed sent a lot of people to

At the African-American Books Examiner, I have published a two-part post about criticism of Tyler Perry and also his reaction to the Boondocks "Pause" episode. A blogger who attended the Essence Music Festival reported his comments straight from his mouth, which I discuss in Part 2. Part 1 is another look at how Zora Neale Hurston's contemporaries criticized her work and the similarities to

Finally, I decided I just had to post the latest Old Spice commercial here at my own blog in case the BlogHer.com site where I found it goes down for maintenance or something. I want to be able to watch it whenever I please, but the comments section at BlogHer about it and the actor, Isaiah Mustafa, is nearly as funny as the "manmercial" itself. This new production features him with no need of

The probability that the oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico would reach Lake Pontchartrain has been one of my concerns since the oil crisis began, and today I and other New Orleans area residents learned that tar balls have been spotted in the lake in the Rigolets. WWL TV reports:The tarballs floated to the shore in the Treasure Isle subdivision near Slidell."The

When I first heard that not only had Bill Kristol, a prominent conservative, but also Dick Cheney's daughter, Liz Cheney, had both called for RNC Chariman Michael Steele's resignation based on Steele's remarks that the war in Afghanistan is "unwinnable" and a war of Obama's "choosing," I grinned, but didn't bother to comment publicly. Privately I concluded that Michael Steel must not read his

A Republican, Lawrence Wilkerson, connects former vice president Dick Cheney's active restructuring of government to favor deregulation of the oil industry and other commercial enterprises to our current disaster, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Wilkerson says we should expect more disasters made worse due to deregulation. This video references Shirley Anne Warshaw's

I have been reading horrible reviews for M. Knight Shyamalan's new movie, The Last Airbender, based on the Nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender. There are so many bad reviews, I can only point out some that have made me laugh the most, and yes, I am laughing because I see the venom critics are spewing at this movie as Shyamalan's bad karma. His defense for casting white people (

I love this song. It's not your standard 4th of July song, but "On the 4th of July" by James Taylor is a lovely song that takes the listener on a journey. I go back to a place sweet and peaceful.

It's the precursor to better gifts for future Star Trek captains. "Dear Avery Brooks: Your Flying Car is Here!" has been syndicated at BlogHer.

Remember the old IBM commercial with Avery Brooks asking, "Where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars."? And then he concludes, "You don't need flying cars" because you've got the Internet. Apparently the company Terrafugia disagrees, and so, it's offering a flying car for sale. According to the Huffington Post:The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Mass., says it plans to deliver

While I prepared for an appointment yesterday, July 1, I listened to this interview of BP's chief of Gulf Coast restoration Bob Dudley on PBS NewsHour. By no means is he as daft as the oil giant's CE0 Tony Hayward, but I'm pretty sure I heard him say that while BP is doing its best to stop the oil leak from the Deepwater Horizon rig, the company did not anticipate this kind of accident. That's

Jennfier Hudson told VH1's Behind the Music on Monday that she intentionally disappeared after the murders of her mother, Darnell Donerson, her brother, Jason Hudson, and nephew, seven-year-old Julian King, in 2008. William Balfour, the estranged spouse of her sister Julia, was charged with the murders. She says "It's all a blur, it was surreal. It was like I was outside myself." In addition, the

I'm using this image of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land because that's how I feel right now, like I'm a stranger in a strange land. I'm arguing for a position I would otherwise not argue because part of my spiritual belief is live and let live. Consequently, I do not in general condone the outing of gay people who want to remain in the closet nor would I personally out a closeted gay,