Notebook woes

Those of you who know me will understand what I'm about to say. It's week five of classes and I still don't have a notebook for either of my classes. I'm not sure why I haven't done it yet. I took the time to find two binders, cleaned them out, found dividers, really made an effort to get started on the right foot.

I looked at my desk today and realized that I have gone far beyond procrastination. It not that I don't have the I don't have time to set up the notebook. I just haven't had it in me to do it. You would think that 12 years of secondary education would've stuck with me. Rule #1, have a notebook, organize your homework.

Instead my desk is chaos and I'm always doing homework at the last minute.

Here's the really hilarious part of all this... I just got contact information for the student that I'm going to coach. Thankfully, she'll never see my desk. Hopefully, she doesn't need help setting up a notebook or else she might flunk out of school.

And the Oscar goes to...

From http://www.indiana.edu/~bfca/features/oscars.html

Feature Presentation:
African American Oscar Winners
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards, considered the most prestigious annual award ceremony for film in the United States, has a long and distinguished history of recognizing outstanding achievement in film. Unfortunately, their recognition of African American actors, actresses, and filmmakers has been few and far between.

The first African American to win an Academy Award was Hattie McDaniel for her performance as "Mammy" in Gone With the Wind (1939). Despite this breakthrough fairly early in the history of the Academy Awards, it would be another twenty-four years before another African American was once again honored (with the exception of the Honorary Award given to James Baskett in 1948 for his performance as "Uncle Remus" in Disney's Song of the South). When Sidney Poitier (who was born in Miami and later moved to the U.S. at the age of 15, but is Bahamian and thus also considered a Caribbean black) won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Lilies of the Field (1963) in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement in 1964, many hoped that the playing field was finally becoming more level. Unfortunately, it would be nineteen more years before another black actor won an Academy Award.

Several black actors and one black actress won Oscars for supporting roles in the 1980s and 1990s, however none won for a leading role again until the 2002 Academy Awards. In that year, African Americans actually won both of the top acting awards. Halle Berry became the first African American woman to win the Best Actress award for her performance in Monster's Ball (2001), and after being nominated twice before for a leading role, Malcolm X (1992) and The Hurricane (1999), Denzel Washington finally won for his portrayal of a dirty cop in Training Day (2001).

The 2002 Academy Awards also featured an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award given to Sidney Poitier. With three Oscars awarded to black actors, some declared that discrimination in the movie industry was a thing of the past and that African Americans had finally made it, while others maintained that progress was being made but there were still too many obstacles for people of color to overcome.

Is Hollywood still conducting business in black and white, or is green the predominant color of the Film Industry? In other words, does the image of African Americans that Hollywood most frequently presents reflect what makes the most money with national and international audiences? If so, what can be done to combat this problem in order to secure more worthwhile roles for black actors and actresses and projects for black filmmakers?

We encourage you to make up your own mind by taking a look at the articles, books, websites, and films listed at the bottom of this web page.

Black Academy Award Winners:
1. Hattie McDaniel, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gone With the Wind (1939).
2. James Baskett, Honorary Award "for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney's Song of the South" (1946). [awarded at the 1948 Academy Awards Ceremony]
3. Sidney Poitier, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Lilies of the Field (1963).
4. Isaac Hayes, Best Music, Original Song for "Theme from Shaft" from Shaft (1971).
5. Louis Gossett, Jr., Best Actor in a Supporting Role for An Officer and a Gentleman (1982).
6. Irene Cara, Best Music, Original Song for "Flashdance...What a Feeling" from Flashdance (1983).
7. Prince, Best Music, Original Song Score for Purple Rain (1984).
8. Stevie Wonder, Best Music, Original Song for "I Just Called to Say I Loved You" from The Woman in Red (1984).
9. Lionel Richie, Best Music, Original Song for "Say You, Say Me" from White Nights (1985).
10. Herbie Hancock, Best Music, Original Score for 'Round Midnight (1986).
11. Denzel Washington, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Glory (1989).
12. Whoopi Goldberg, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Ghost (1990).
13. Cuba Gooding, Jr., Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Jerry Maguire (1996).
14. Halle Berry, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Monster's Ball (2001).
15. Denzel Washington, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Training Day (2001).
16. Sidney Poitier, Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award "for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence." [awarded at the 2002 Academy Awards Ceremony]
17. Jamie Foxx, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Ray (2004).
18. Morgan Freeman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Million Dollar Baby (2004)
19. Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, and Paul Beauregard [aka Three 6 Mafia], Best Music, Original Song for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow (2005).
20. Jennifer Hudson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Dreamgirls
21. Forestt Whitiker, Best Actor in a Lead Role for the Last King of Scotland.

The Grammys - Dixie Chicks

Who would've thought that 4 years after the now infamous statement, Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks would walk off with grammys for Record of the year, Song of the year, Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, Best Country Album, and Album of the Year. I guess all the people who said they couldn't come back and be as strong as they were before were wrong.

It's ironic that they won for best country album of the year when you stop to think about the fact that country radio has all but abandoned the Dixie Chicks. Country radio, although very 'American' and family oriented, has this annoying thing about it. They believe in free speech as long as you say something they agree with. Country radio didn't like it when Natalie Maines spoke out against the president, like most non-celeb americans. They destroyed DC cds in the streets, enacted full fledged boycotts of their musics and concerts. DC became personae non-gratae.

The chix weren't detered... they couldn't be held back. They went on tour to sold out crowds, they went on with their lives and came back to record probably one of the best albums of their careers. Emily Robson described it as "recording without a genre" and I really think that it was the most creative they've ever been because they weren't in a box. They could record the music they wanted to play and they were able to touch their listeners in a very special place in the process.

Four years ago after Natalie Maines made her now imfamous statement about our president, I wore a necklace to school that said "Dixie Chicks Rule". I remember walking by the Vice President of my area and he said to me, "Are you trying to get beat up?". I didn't understand why said that until I found out our administration (the college's that is) is headed up by a republican who appreciates republican values and republican dollars. So any talk or dissension against our country's president was probably not appreciated. But I wasn't saying anything about the political situation at the time. I was showing my love for the Dixie Chicks.

For me, it's always been about the music, never the politics. At the end of the day, Natalie, Emily, and Marti are artists and the world is better for having them in it.

Lonnnng week

I just finished up one of the most stressful weeks I've had in a long time. I've been working on a project for about a month now and (as with anything) effective planning would've helped things go a lot smoother.

I was very confident about my .asp skills before I started this project and I really had a game plan in mind. I probably should have have stuck with that or at least written my plan out so that all the obstacles could have been addressed in the beginning.

Last night, I started to do some work and I guess I was so tired from being up every night during the week. As I started to work, my chest started hurting in a way that can only be described as the kind of pain where you actually think about calling 911. My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest. I think my body was telling me not do to any work and to just relax. So I got in the bed and read for a bit. Even though I got more sleep, I was still exhausted this morning.

So, I went to work, negotiated a day off for Monday and finished up a big portion of my project. There's still a lot to do this weekend. But I think I'll get through it.

Sleep Debt

It's amazing what a lack of sleep can do for the brain. They say that drving while you're sleepy is just as bad as driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Well, I've had better sense than to drive a lot the past couple of days. But i hveing doing a bunch of programming...It hasn't been going well at all.

I wish I could tell you more, but I'm too tired...