Southwest Airlines Rapping Steward should be on United Airlines

The best thing about YouTube is finding that gem of a video while searching for some other kind of video. That was the case with the famous FUNNY STEWARD SOUTHWEST AIRLINES RAPPING SAFETY INFORMATION video.

The video features an African American Southwest Airlines steward by the name of David Holmes who explains that the boredom of working on five flights that day has compelled him to "shake things up" and with the audience clapping to a beat, he goes into what could only be called a classic rap. It goes like this:

This is Flight Three-Seven-Two on SWA.
The flight attendants on board serving to today
Terresa in the middle, David in the back
My name is David and I'm here to tell you that
Shortly after take off, first things first
There's soft drinks and coffee to quench your thirst
But if you want another kind of drink, then just holla
Alcoholic beverages'll be four dollars
If a Mansever Food and Drink is your plan
That'll be three dollars and you'll get the whole than
We won't take your cash; you pay with plastic
If you have a coupon that's fantastic
We know ya ready to get to new places
Open up the bins, port away your suitcases
Carryon items go under the seat
In front of you so none of you have things by your feet
If you have a seat on a row with an exit
We're gonna talk to you so you might as well expect it
You gotta help evacuate in case we need you
If you don't wanna then we're gonna reseat you
Before we leave, our advice is, put away your electronic devices
Fasten your seat belt
Then put your trays up
Press the button to make the seat back raise up
Sit back relax
Have a good time
It's almost time to go so I'm done with the rhyme.
Thank you for the fact that I wans't ignored
This is Southwest Airlines, welcome aboard.

David gets all the girls 

A great, classic rap! What's funnier still is at the end, David Holmes says "You're not going to get that on United Airlines!"

Man, I so wish he was wrong. If someone working for United Airlines sees this, form a rapping crew group!

What amazing is that even though the video was uploaded over a year ago, it's only clocked a quarter of a million views rather than one million views.

And on the matter of the past year, Holmes' has a Facebook group with just over 400 fans. That's an outrage. It should be 4,000 fans. Visit his page and press the like button, please!

Stay tuned!

Megan Avalon: Pamela Sue Anderson and female bodybuilder in one

Megan Avalon 

After her win in the Sports Division of the 2010 Silver and Black Classic, Marin County Personal Trainer Megan Avalon is a major step closer to to objective of getting out the message that a woman can be both obviously strong and muscular, and beautiful and sexy. Think Pamela Sue Anderson and Barbie.

With the guidance of her trainer Jennifer Cowan, a professional bodybuilding legend, Megan Avalon has worked to hone and refine her amazing look.

Megan's one part Pamela Sue Anderson, another part Barbie, mixed with Jillian Michaels and female bodybuilder. It's just a matter of time before she's discovered and not just for her looks, but because she's well spoken. Megan talks very well on the mic, on video, and in person.

This space has helped promote Megan and sponsors her on Zennie62.com; not agents but major league fans. Megan's objective fit right in line with a long-held desire this blogger has had to alter and change how society thinks about women going all the way back to 2003 and really beyond that point in time.

Megan should be on the cover of The Sports Illustrated Women's Swimsuit Edition or at least right there with Brooklyn Decker.  (Now if we can only get Dan Patrick to speak up!)

In the past, women with muscles have been shunned and women's bodybuilding thought of as a "strange" practice and not even a sport. But the slowly advancing industrial society, in expanding labor, education, and athletic opportunities for women gave rise to the strong woman, almost before fashion and image arbiters could catch up.

Brandi Chastain

Now, thanks to Nike and Brandi Chastain's amazing and iconic moment, that's where we are at today. A total disconnect between the true image of women and that in the World of fashion.

Megan Avalon can bring those Worlds together. The image that needs to be seen is the one she has. Most modeling agencies have pushed the opposite: someone who looks like Megan but is skinny and weak. All agencies except for one: Wilhelmina International, Inc.

Last year, Wilhelmina International, Inc. partnered with Shape and Men’s Fitness magazines (both owned by American Media) and started a contest to find the best male and female fit models.

And while Megan Avalon did not know about the contest to enter it and win, the simple fact that such a legendary modeling organization as Wilhelmina would look for women with muscle as a look to promote is a major step forward in fashion. It's only a matter of time before Megan is recognized as the best fit woman model in America.

Megan is using a number of methods to advance her image, from websites and blogs to bodybuilding contests and webcam shows. The combination is building a fanbase that can lead to movies and video games.

Yes, movies and video games. Megan's look means numbers and as her popularity grows her value as a celebrity image for entertainment platforms increases too. The 2010 WonderCon was a hotbed for images of strong women in comic books and in movies like Kick-Ass, who's most popular character is a young woman who's not afraid to, well, kick-ass.

Megan's path is like that of Pamela Sue Anderson: from modeling to acting and movies. But the difference is Megan's promoting what it means to be very healthy, very strong, and very female.

Megan Avalon's website MeganAvalon.net will be finished soon.

Lena Horne Civil Rights Activist Icon passes post by Suzannah B. Troy

Lena Horne was a great beauty, a beautiful person, singer, performer, icon and Civil Rights activist. Growing up in Bed Stuy Brooklyn her peers treated her badly because of her light black skin. They said she had a white father which was not true.

Lena Horne was the first African American Actress to have a contract with a major Hollywood studio with a clause stipulating she did not have to play any demeaning or stereotypical roles according to this blog I linked to and also was a favored and loved presence at The Apollo Theatre.

She was a ground breaker and a fighter for Civil Rights and she contributed and helped pave the way for other thanks to her activism and courage. She died at 92 years old here in NYC New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and she had her family with her.

Below a quote from The New York Post Editorial section from Quincy Jones, May 11, 2010.

"Lena Horne was a pioneering groundbreaker, making inroads into a world that had never before been explored by African-American women, and she did it on her own terms. Our nation and the world has lost one of the great artistic icons of the 20th century."

— Composer/arranger Quincy Jones on the death Sunday of the legendary singer and actress at the age of 92

I remember Liz Smith was a big admirer of Lena Horne and I was invited to a function dedicated to her. Her daughter came in her place if memory serves me right.

Lena Horne was very humble and down played her talents but she truly was a compelling performer, a great beauty, a loved Mother and an activist that made a difference and will be missed.

She was born here 92 years old and she passed away her in NYC...full circle fully loved...

I think of Alicia Keys singing "Empire State of Mind" so beautifully and I think of Lena Horne now eternally beautiful; her great contributions remain with us in spirit.  Thank you and Bless you Lena Horne.

Melissa Huckaby admits to murder of Sandra Cantu

Melissa Huckaby

Melissa Huckaby admitted to the murder of little 8-year-old Sandra Cantu today. If you recall Melissa Huckaby, she was the 28-year-old Tracy, California Sunday School teacher who was accused of Cantu's murder, but said she wasn't guilty. Well, today, Huckaby changed her story in exchange for a sentence of 25 years to life in jail.

Sandra Cantu was a friend of the daughter of Melissa Huckaby. Cantu was reported missing from her Tracy home March 28th, 2009. Her body was recovered in a suitcase left in an irrigation canal April 7, 2009.

That information alone is enough to make one cry.

Under the plea deal, all other charges were dropped.

When this blogger first heard the Melissa Huckaby story, the elements of it seemed to point to an insanity plea. In other words, a young female Sunday School teacher would have to be insane to do what Melissa was accused of doing.

Such a claim does not exonerate her for what she did. But when a single mother and Sunday School teacher goes off and does what she did to Sandra Cantu, and is said to possibly have been involved in another case, something has to be wrong with her.

Why? That's the unanswered question. What happened to cause Melissa Huckaby to go wrong?

That's a question we're addressing at Zennie62 Daily on USTREAM.TV, below:

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

Giuseppi Logan son's video post by Suzannah B. Troy

As any of the good people following my blogs and YouTubes know I discovered Giuseppi Logan playing "Begin the Beguine" 2 years ago on a freezing cold day and I knew I captured something amazing. I ran home and I followed GL's instructions to research him on the internet. I immediately found a YouTube posted on ESP channel of a British film maker's showing Giuseppi Logan in the very same park, Tompkins Square Park in the East Village but from 1966. Giuseppi's son Jaee happily plays in the park with little girls as Giuseppi's original composition plays in the background. Peter Gershon, the publisher of "Signal to Noise" wrote a powerful piece on Giuseppi Logan "Out from the Shadow" and I was deeply moved by what Pete wrote about my contribution and my work in this exciting discovery... Giuseppi Logan was in fact a live. He had made 2 successful records in the 1960's before he vanished. Where did he vanish to? His demons got the better of him. More on that later. I have a poem in the park..."miss you, miss people, neighborhood, trees, NYC idiosyncrcasies" at the base of the fountain with the word "Hope" you will see in the video I am posting that was sent to me. Giuseppi Logan was standing just a foot away from my poem with the words "Hope" above my poem like a shining light. Who would know I would stand next to Jaee Logan 2 years later and Jaee will be talking to us about broken family trees...not only had Jaee Logan lost his Father but he has lost his only son to random gun violence. His son Jaee was shot 3 times in the back of the head. What you will see is Giuseppi Logan and his son Jaee reunited after 40 years thanks to my YouTubes. When Giuseppi self destructed Jaee's Mom took him to the west coast which is his home base. He has his Dad's musical gifts and the first time I conferenced called them as we talked -- Giuseppi would play music and it spoke to Jaee in a way I could not through is music. I was deeply moved. I have had to deal with the dark side of YouTube and blogger owned by Google and I have had to turn to the NYPD and lawyers but this is the best side of YouTube and Google. I call this a YouTube miracle and I am so honored to be part of it.

Lena Horne: ageless and seemingly immortal wonder passes

RIP Lena Horne. There are people and then there's Lena Horne. A major part of the Zeitgeist, Lena Horne is an actress that to this blogger seemed ageless and superhuman. A National Treasure.

The Washington Post's Adam Bernstein wrote that Lena Horne was the first black actress studios had to take seriously beyond her race. Well, the reason was simple: Lena Horne was so beautiful anyone who dared exclude her because she was black was considered psychotic. Lena Horne was the gold standard of beauty when I was growing up.

The very idea that Ms. Horne is no longer with us is so shocking I could not blog about it when I saw the news.

To understand why you have to see Lena Horne. This is Lena Horne singing "Stormy Weather":



This is Lena Horne singing "You'd Better Love Me" in 1967:



Lena Horne ushered in the era of what Harold Cruse would derisively call the "Black Bourgeoisie" in the classic The Crisis of The Negro Intellectual, and I point to because I long disliked that Cruse essentially sent a message that blacks should not want to pursue the American Dream.  

That was the 1960s: a time not just of civil rights breakthroughs, but of many questions of what it was to be black.  It formed the idea I have today: that being black is not what others say I should be or should do, but what I say I should be or should do as a person.  You have to deal with me, not the other way around.

Lena Horne's existence was a guide for me.

Lena Horne was the American Dream as reality. A perfect counterpoint to Cruse's claim that it "did nothing for the economic development" of blacks.

Lena Horne opened doors just by being Lena. Lena Horne made it OK for people like me to be who we are today.

Lena Horne appeared on Rosie O'Donnell's show in 1997, and to talk about helping entertainers who were in ill health, the singing legends she knew, and her 80th birthday bash.



God bless Lena Horne.

Elena Kagan: Obama's safe yet daring Supreme Court pick

Elena Kagan 

Near the end of Mother's Day, it was announced that Elena Kagan, currently the Solicitor General of The United States under President Barack Obama, and Professor of Harvard Law School (on leave), and Dean of same is now Obama's pick to be Supreme Couty justice, replacing the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Elena Kagan, who would be the third woman on the Supreme Court of The United States if confirmed, and the fourth in history, is also only the second solicitor general to be named to such post after the legendary Justice Thurgood Marshall. Kagan, is a safe pick and yet daring at the same time because Kagan has no bench experience yet is widely regarded as a brilliant legal mind who has argued cases before the Supreme Court.

Kagan is a choice right for this time in Obama's Presidency: in the middle of a hot mid-term election season made all the hotter by economic, ethnic and racial tensions, Obama could not afford another controversy to deal with. Kagan gives her opponents little to attack that would not make them sound sexist or homophobic in the process. Have doubts, let's look at the attacks that have already been issued as evidence.

Michael Roston at True/Slant points to Kagan's status of not having children as a liability:

Certainly there is no requirement that every Justice sitting on the court be a parent. But on a powerful body full of fathers, is it too much to ask that we have one mother as a member of the Supreme Court?

Roston goes on to charge that Kagan can't really understand a case from a mother's point of view because she's not a mother. But nowhere in his blog post does he mention that it's equally important for a someone to be able to understand the plight of women who for various reasons aren't able to have kids.

While I'm the last person to take away the value of motherhood, the reality is that it's not a viable choice for a growing number of women at certain stages of their lives. But even with that, the status of "single woman, no kids" is looked at as if it were some kind of crime, when it's not.

Any Republican attacking Kagan on that basis would immediately feel the impact of the loss of the "single woman, no kids" vote come November. Especially if that groups was angered enough to come out and vote against the GOP politician foolish enough to attack Kagan and them.

Also, Kagan has no record of opinions, which means there's nothing that can be used against her. That's dramatically different that the situation with Justice Sonya Sotomayor, who's statements in past cases were used to gin up White Male anger during her Senate hearings.

Kagan has no such problem.

There's also a rumor that Kagan may be Lesbian. My goodness, I hope she is. While it should not be an issue, it would give the Supreme Court an appropriate diversity of thought that would carry America well into the 21st Century.