Tiger Woods in Vanity Fair amid rehab reports

This Tiger Woods update from O'Hare Airport has Tiger Woods allegedly in rehab (!) and on the cover of the February Vanity Fair in a photo that caused Entertainment Weekly's Adam Markovitz to write "seems more than a little menacing to me", which strikes me as racist, and opens the question if Markovitz would have even had such a thought in his head if Tiger Woods was white?

Tiger Woods in Vanity Fair 

Or let's say he was Robert Pattison, from Twilight: New Moon or Taylor Lautner for that matter? My guess is he would use adjectives like "beefy" but nothing like "menacing" as was used for Tiger Woods.

But I digress.

The photo was taken pre-Tiger Woods sex scandal and the article (called "Tiger In The Rough") was written by Buzz Bissinger without Tiger Woods knoweldge or approval. My quick pre-flight blogging scan of Buzz' work reveals that it's really just an overview of what happened to Tiger Woods and speculation if he will return to Golf. That's it; just two pages online. (Which is disappointing for Vanity Fair as I'd expect six pages, but this is a bad economy.)

Meanwhile the VF works come amid new unconfirmed allegations that Tiger Woods has entered rehab. The whole email deal behind us and largely disproven (I could not care one way or the other), we now have a fresh field of rumors and sitings to deal with.

The rehab stuff does not have the TMZ or Radaronline.com seal of approvel, so it can't be taken seriously because those two organizations have the best track record of getting the Tiger Woods (or Michael Jackson or whatever celebrity) story right.

Stay tuned.

Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz "Another Day" - update

Greetings from a typically busy O'Hare Airport! This Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz "Another Day" update comes from TMZ.com, which reports that the leaked new song "Another Day" has caught the eye of The Jackson Estate, Sony, and Lenny Kravitz.

While Sony takes steps to remove the video images, Lenny Kravitz made this video below to say that he did not release the song for Internet ears to hear. He says:

Good morning. I just want to reach out to you, so I can set the record straight regarding the Michael Jackson track "Another Day". As you know and have heard, the song, part of the song leaked. The version that's out , roughly a minute and thrity seconds of the track, not mixed but it is the track. Not by me, because mine has been locked in a vault.

The DJ who's speaking over the track (shrugs); I don't know who that person is. I don't know how they obtained it or what their purpose is, but that person has nothing to do with the track.

That song was recorded by me - I produced it. For him (Michael Jackson). I wrote the song. I played all the instruments. It was one of the most amazing musical experiences I've ever had. It was a bunch of people who respect each other and love music. I'd like to see this thing get straightened out as soon as possible. I'd like for you the fan who love Michael to be able to hear the track in its entirety as it was intended to be. That's all being worked out as I sit here in the bush. I'll get back to you.

Here's Lenny Kravitz' video:



Stay tuned.

Related link: TMZ.com

CES 2010 - Videobloggers storm CES Las Vegas

CES 2010 Las Vegas is almost upon us, well for all practical purposes, its here. The Consumer Electronics Show has always been a "big deal" but the emergence of New Media and the use of communications devices like camera-equipped cell phone has made it only larger. And the impact of these eonsumer electronics systems on media has been nothing short of amazing, and given rise to that newest of all creatures...

The Videoblogger.

Videobloggers will not be in short supply at CES 2010. There's my friend Sarah Austin, who partnered with online meeting company Watchitoo to host a special live show January 8th. CNET has its BuzzOutLoud Live Show. And perhaps Robert Scoble will have another interesting story like this one from the 2008 CES:



Whatever the case, I'm not going to be there. Actually, never planned to go and I'm traveling as I write this. But I will be posting updates regularly through the week. If you're a vlogger and will be at CES, ping me.

Stay tuned.

Zennie Abraham goes to White Castle on Palindrome Day

After avoiding it, two weeks ago I bought Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (with John Cho and Kal Penn) as a Christmas present to myself of sorts, and really got hooked on the movie. It brought me back to my childhood here in Chicago in the 60s and 70s, and where I'm visiting on The South Side as I blog this.

My friends and I always went to the White Castle hamburger joint on Stony Island and South Chicago, across from a mosque that was ran by The Nation of Islam, and my Mom told me never to cross Stony Island to the side of the street the mosque was on. (Sorry but that's the way it was in those days.)

We didn't care about that; we wanted the White Castle burgers by the bunch!

Living in Oakland means giving up White Castle hamburgers. Hey, healthy food and eating local's certainly good for you, but I've got to admit the movement's presented in a boring way and the advocates tend to take things a little too seriously from time to time; it's hard to find a good burger in Oakland and there's no White Castle!

So I made it my mission to get to a White Castle here in Chicago and vlog my experience on Palindrome Day with my trusty Flip Video Camera. (Nope, they're not sponsoring me and neither is White Castle, as of this writing at least.)

The White Castle I visited was on 95th and Jeffrey on the South Side of Chicago. The manager, a young lady named Bria, was really welcoming and explained that even with Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle , business was slow. So I encouraged everyone to visit that store and buy a burger! It's on the video!

Taking Bria's advice, I asked for the "Number One", which sounds like "Number One" from the original Star Trek episode called "The Cage", and which I got without cheese.  (And for some reason it made me think of the "Royale with Cheese" from Pulp Fiction.)

Then I did something I've always wanted to do: open the bag and take out the White Castle burger with the camera running! That was about as much fun as going down that slide at the Google / YouTube San Francisco offices!

Talk about passion food! That's White Castle. Of course, it means extra workout time when I get back to Oakland, but it was worth it!

'The Hurt Locker' wins National Society of Film Critics Best Picture

The Hurt Locker continues to storm the Oscar Awards season. The latest for the Katheryn Bigelow-directed war movie, which is on more "Top 10" lists than any film of 2009, is "Best Picture" at The National Society of Film Critics, which held their meeting Sunday.

Katheryn Bigelow takes home yet another Best Director Award and Jeremy Renner wins Best Actor for the documentary-style war movie.

The Hurt Locker is the story of a bomb squad during The Iraq War and the life-threatening bomb-diffusion missions they take on. The margin of error is zero, and soldiers talk of explosions as sending you to "the hurt locker."

Here's a scene from The Hurt Locker:

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writers: Mark Boal
Studio: Summit Entertainment



How a sniper scene in The Hurt Locker was filmed is the focus of this San Francisco Chronicle article by Michele Ordona

National Society of Film Critics list of winners:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
BestDirector: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Best Actress: Yolande Moreau - Seraphine
Best Supporting Actor: TIE: Paul Schneider - Bright Star; Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Best Screenplay: A Serious Man
Best Foreign Film: Summer Hours
Best Nonfiction Film: The Beaches of Agnes
Cinematography: The White Ribbon
Production Design: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz make "Another Day"

While we pass into a new decade and a new year starting with 2010, Natalie Coughlin is the Top Olympian of the Decade, Newark Aiport is on lockdown, Larry Johnson runs with the Bengals vs the Jets, and Pat White recovers from a hit versus the Steelers, Michael Jackson is still very much a part of popular culture.

On Saturday, January 2nd 2010 (Palindrome Day) a song that allegedly was the result of a team-up between Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz hit the Internet. It's called "Another Day".

It's difficult to find any recent reference to the song by either Michael Jackson or Lenny Kravitz, but in this interview with Spinner Magazine, Lenny Kravitz wrote:

I got to work with Michael on a track that has not been released and it was the most amazing experience I've had in the studio. He was funny. Very funny and we laughed the whole time. I also saw what a beautiful father he was. He was a beautiful human being. I am deeply saddened this evening.

This is said to be that track called "Another Day":



Stay tuned

Related topics:

MTV, pop music, youtube music video, jackson five, kravitz in paris, king of pop

Dolphins Quarterback Pat White had a concussion after Steelers hit

This Dolphins Quarterback Pat White Update.

Dolphins Quarterback Pat White suffered a concussion after being hit helmet-to-helmet by the Pittsburgh Steelers Ike Taylor. On a 3rd down and 9 play with 2:05 left in the 3rd Quarter, Pat White ducked down with the ball and ran left to the sideline to try and make a 1st down. He just missed as he was blasted by Taylor just as White headed for the sidelines.

White was immediately immobile after the hit, with Steelers and Dolphins players waving over doctors and trainers to help him.

The hit that Taylor made was within bounds; no penalty was called.

Profootballtalk.com reports that a "league source" said that Pat White had suffered a concussion, but had recovered from it.

Pat White was the second of two Dolphins quaterbacks removed from the same game due to injury. Earlier, Chad Henne was taken out after fighting blurred vision from a hit by Steeler's Linebacker Lamar Woodley. The problem wasn't immediate; it got worse during halftime of the game, so Henne was deactivated from play.

The Dolphins missed the playoffs as a result of the loss, 30 to 24.

Related topics:

nfl Football, nfl playoffs, sports, pro football