Saturday, April 02, 2011

Seal Looks Like Zennie Abraham?


seal-zennie, originally uploaded by zennie62.
A WonderCon break between events finds the blogger typing away at Bin 55 at The San Francisco Marriott, watching UConn vs. Kentucky, and tired as hell.

How all this Seal / Zennie stuff started - that the singer Seal looks like this blogger, Zennie Abraham - was by a person known but who's name will not be mentioned.

Of course that will start a number of rumors, but let's get this out of the way: it wasn't Heidi Klum, Seal's wife.

The Seal / Zennie issue started a bit of conversation on Facebook, with most women saying there's resemblance, and guys saying that the prize should be Heidi Klum. That's just not possible, as married women just aren't done here.

Well, what's done here right now is this blogger. it was a long day and a the equivalent of a good four mile walk must have been executed. Got a lot done, from meeting (but not yet interviewing) Berkeley Breathed, to interviewing Lacie Underall (remember her?), and a number of just plain folks at WonderCon, trying to get a sense of what they thought about the event and the latest in sci-fi.

But right now, off to the Geek Girl mixer! Tired ass and all!

Right now, I might look like Seal, but I feel like crap.

On YouTube - Charlie Sheen Meet Your Brother 'Afro Sheen' At WonderCon SF




WonderCon SF is a place where the weird is normal and expected and welcome - 'Afro Sheen, brother of Charlie Sheen' is a great example.

As this blogger was standing in line and doing interviews for the Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Green Lantern panel on Friday, an African American brother (or "brother," though he could just as well be a white or Asian or Latino brother, too), stepped forward to announce that he was Charlie Sheen's brother Afro Sheen, and launched into a monologue that left the crowd in line in stitches. I thought: 'this guy's got to go on my YouTube channel (Zennie62).'

Arfo Sheen:


"I just came back with (Avatar producer) James Cameron, did Avatar 2 Back In The Hood, so I did that. I'm taking a little break to watch (the) Green Lantern (panel at WonderCon). Let me tell you about my new series: 'Three-And-A-Half Babies Mamas.' It's coming to TV. We're trying to get to URN. If we don't get UPN, we get BET. If you don't know, it's not about winning, it's about pimping."


And that was that, until a curvy woman dressed as one of The Green Lantern Corps walked up, then he posed with her for pictures, and I had to ask him to get out of the way so I could get one of her.

Too funny. Usually, costumed WonderCon attendees have great dress concepts, but no line of sayings to go with it; they're just walking around for photos. This guy is a walking performance.

(No word on what Charlie Sheen thinks of the news of the existence of his brother, Afro Sheen, but stay tuned.)

I'll reveal who Afro Sheen is in the next blog post on this. Off to WonderCon, Day 2. Follow me on Twitter at Zennie62 and visit YouTube.com/zennie62, too.

2011 NFL Draft: Cam Newton Victim Of USA Today's Apparent Racism

The 2011 NFL Draft is taking a turn for the worst. "Dog Whistle" racism's playing a role in this year's draft, with some unlikely names using the tactic to advance their own favorite quarterbacks. The question is why, and why is the USA Today the publication at fault?

In the USA Today NFL Draft Special Edition, two articles, both by USA Today Reporter Jim Corbett, have so much misinformation on Auburn Quarterback Cam Newton, the Heisman Trophy Winner of last year, especially when compared with Missouri Quarterback Blaine Gabbert, that the work winds up reading like a marketing puff-piece for Gabbert, rather than a valuable, informative document.

And when USA Today NFL Draft Special Edition is not pumping up Gabbert with inflated claims, the articles compare Newton with black quarterbacks of years past, rather than his contemporaries of today, which happen to be white.

This awful work of fiction, which you can get at Chicago O'Hare Aiport's Hudson News Stand, hits its stride on page 4, when Corbett uses a quote that Gabbert's a "traditional pocket passer." Everyone who's seen Gabbert play knows that, like Cam Newton, he played in a shotgun-spread offense, with Gabbert five yards back from the center. The term "traditional pocket passer" implies throwing after dropping back from under center, something Gabbert did not regularly do at Missouri.

Then, Corbett uses ESPN's Mel Kiper to aim one of a couple of hum-dinger, head-scratcher negative statements about Newton and about Gabbert. On Gabbert, Kiper obviously never watched him play at Missouri, because Kiper said that Gabbert struggled on third down completions in college because he "didn't have Daranio Alexander (Rams wideout). He didn't have Jeremy Macklin, (Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver). The receiving corps wasn't nearly what it used to be at Missouri."

Really?

If that's the case, Kiper's not watched any tape on Gabbert at all. If he did, he'd have to note that Gabbert has a tendency to fail to quickly find the "hot" receiver when he's being rushed on third down. That's not the receivers fault at all. It's also not the formation itself, as Mizzou commonly throws out of five receiver sets, at times with four receivers on one side of the ball.

Even with that, Gabbert's performance on third down hasn't been great; blaming the Missouri receivers for this is misinformation.  But then Kiper talking about Gabbert not having NFL receivers is just making excuses for Gabbert's poor performance in that area.  Now Kiper sounds like a homer rather than a Draftnik.

Another work of misinformation by USA Today's Corbett is in the sidebar article on page 5 called "Newton Offers Risks, Rewards." Gabbert opens the article by comparing Newton with Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith, both who really have nothing in common with Cam Newton other than skin color, because they're all black men.

It would have been better for Corbett to explain why he was picking two black quarterbacks to compare Cam Newton with, but it seems to this blogger Corbett knew he would not only be charged as being racist, but have to explain in detail a decision of little real substance and a lot of irrational emotion.

But, believe it or not, it gets worse.  It's not that Mel Kiper's comparison to Akili Smith is wrong - where Smith was a one-year wonder at Oregon, Newton was the top junior college player in America before coming to Auburn - but that Corbett didn't call Kiper on it.

He apparently used the Kiper "Akili Smith" quote just to discredit Newton.  Then he followed that punch with the mention of Newton's legal problems from the "hot laptop" incident of 2008, but fails to mention, at any point in the entire paper - not just that article - that Gabbert and his brother Tyler got into a fight with some other men at a pizza joint called Gumby's last year over lack of space at a urinal in the Columbia, MO establishment.

Yep. You read that correctly.  Blaine Gabbert was almost arrested for fighting and drinking.  But he got away with what's basically a slap on the wrist Cam Newton only sees in his dreams.

So ask yourself why you're not reading more about the Blaine Gabbert Pizza Fight Over Urinal Space? Then consider that if it were Cam Newton and not Blaine Gabbert, you'd have known about it because it fits the American stereotype of the black male in trouble - a racist stereotype that's being used to hammer down Cam Newton's NFL draft value, and elevate Blaine Gabbert at the same time, and by painting Gabbert as a choir boy white male with "good character."

And while you're rolling around the concept of a small urinal in your head, consider this question: was Blaine Gabbert drinking? Officially we will never know because no arrests were made, but the police report said they were drinking, and below the legal drinking age at the time.

High character guy, eh?   Where's Jim Corbett now?

Stay tuned.