Demise of the Sugar Daddy

He bought you candy when you were little; bought you clothes when you got older. Some of them even paid that rent.
Sigh, those were the days.
But it's over now.
The sugar daddy, you know, that older man that showered you with "gifts" namely monetary for the pleasure of "knowing" you, is unemployed.
Blame it on a teetering economy.
The loose change and small bills normally kept in his front right pocket and the larger ones kept in his billfold are history, gone with the proverbial winds of the stock market.
(I feel a poem coming on)
His pimpish ways - at the phat crib - have been replaced with hotel stays.
Where his money once ran like a flood, he's resorted to selling his blood.
But you can't act all brand-new, or even in the know; for you sold yours a long time ago.
(end of poem)
But seriously, the give-get relationship has come to an end. NSA relationships are on the fritz. The new question: What can you do for you?

Turning a Show Into a Housewife

No matter what happens, you've got to love NeNe.
The irresistible boughetto one of the all-girl supergroup, "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" that has taken cable airwaves by storm, NeNe Leakes has a down-home earthiness that people can relate to.
She's just elegant enough to correctly pronounce the Chablis that she wants to drink, and just street enough to cuss you out if you don't refill the glass after she's consumed it.
She's one of five women that have changed the face of cable TV this fall.
There's the plastic-barbie antagonist, Kim Zolciak, who has a
mysterious Big Papawho can pay for a $70,000 Escalade after a 10-second phone conversation.
Then we have Lisa Wu Hartwell, a doll of a woman with a thousand-watt smile and personality to match, while her dutiful former NFL husband smiles on command in the background.
There's also the designated doberman of the group, Sheree Whitfield, an NFL divorcee who has made no secret that she intends to get alot of money from the settlement.
Then there's the NBA baller's wife, DeShaun Snow, a likeable girl that smells of new money but who is sweet as pie, except in one humiliating scene where she and Lisa shop and DeShaun throws around her husband's contract terms ("NBA contracts are guaranteed, NFL's aren't) like she was giving recipes for jambalaya.

Ah, but NeNe Leakes, now that's the one we gravitate to. It's been rumored that her house maybe foreclosed on (sounds like people we know); her son is a thug (hey, who's isnt?); her husband's supposedly done some bad business deals (hey, our president's made a few). She's got beef (welcome to the club!): Speaking of which, they say the tiff with Sheree was more philosophical than not; the one with Kim is basically one of convenience for the geniuses over at Bravo (but Kim vs. Lisa is more personal).
The show is based in a far away alternate version of Atlanta where there is no housing crisis and people have enough time on their hands to go to the spa midweek and throw parties on the weekend (Did we mention Lisa Wu's Master P-like drive and determination to start, like, a gazillion businesses all the while her hair stays perfectly coifed?). Perhaps it's this fictionalized view of life that has us mesmerized. Either way, it has made the rounds as one of the most talked-about TV shows this year. Now, will Bravo bring it back for Season 2?

The End of Detroit? Auto Bailout Shaky

With Chrysler declaring bankruptcy, the Big Three is effectively the Big Two. Ford and GM are going to separate routes to financial viability but who knows if they'll make it.
I love Detroit.
I don't want to see Detroit go.
Coneydogs. Boblo (for the old heads). Gators. You name it.
Like so many automobiles produced in the hallowed corridors of Dearborn, Auburn Hills or on Grandriver Boulevard, thesupport for the auto bailout is F.O.R.D: Futile or Ridiculously Dumb. (My Detroit friends like to say Find On the Road Dead, but that's another post). Why is everybody so afraid of the auto bailout? The argument goes something like this: Why should we bail out millionaire execs that knew their day was limited in the first place?
The counter answer is that we'd be bailing out middle America, the workers, unions, honest, hardworking Americans.
It's a good comeback. Another question though is this: Why bail out companies that knowingly produce lackluster products that end up in our frontyards on blocks and are inefficient when it comes to gas mileage and/or smog pollution?
Another counter is that the U.S. economy cannot afford to lose Detroit and its subsidiary industries.
So, is this about people ... or the cars?
I'll admit, who goes to the dealership specifically looking for that brand-new Buick these days? Why is GM still making Buicks?
Why is Chrysler still producing Sebrings?
Why is Ford still producing Explorers?
Those are not easy questions. I just know that south of the Mason-Dixon line, the sympathetic eyes are not there.
Jobs are at stake, perhaps as many as 1.5 million. But the stats are fuzzy.
What's more important is what is Detroit supposed to do, the largest city in Michigan? It is not equipped or diversified enough to survive without a vibrant auto industry. If we let the city go, then what? And if we let a major city go, then who's next, New Orleans?
Interesting questions all.
I leave you with poet-musician Gil-Scott Heron's foreboding tale: "We Almost Lost Detroit" (the original song has the melody looped in Common's song "The People" produced by Kanye West).

GQ "Darkens" Obama on Cover

Whoa.
Is that Barack Obama on the cover of the new GQ, or is it ... Bryant Gumbel? The Photoshop wizards over at GQ should have learned a lesson about artificially "darkening" people from the O.J. Simpson fiasco in the 1990s. To compound matters, this goes on top of the Beyonce "lightening" scandal earlier this year. Black people come in sooo many different hues, one can understand if due to lighting and such the images are off a little bit, but Obama is waaay more chocolate than he truly is in the GQ cover. Message to art director: Add a litte more vanilla, less mocha. Or perhaps they should stay away from the airbrush tool after all, or don't stop at Starbucks before heading into the office. Either way Obama's true complexion is fairer than most. Why is this so difficult? To be fair, this has happened to white men as well, most recently ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit earlier this autumn (which he demanded be redone). But seriously, we're not mad at GQ; they've got it right countless times before. Just remember, ease up on the airbrush.

Searching for: BBW that's not AWOL, but A-OK

In a time of scarcity one group stands to come up, well, big: Full figured women. It is a little-known but well documented fact that in times of calamity women "of whom much was given" become a sort of matriarch for tough times. Brothers see things in them that they had previously dismissed or ignored: Full figured women become topfeeders, nurturers that provide a very physical tug for the strugglers among us, men and women included. And who knew? BBW had recently retreated to the underground of popular culture, sufficient to live precariously through their less-than-healthy siblings or within online personas. But now, with so many stresses pulling on the average man, lucious, full-bodied BBWs are catching on: This phenomenon is truly understudied, but look for a marked increase of big women to rise to the fore in media, advertising, movies, etc., as the American psyche looks for those with ample bodies to supplant the usual image of skinny spokesmodels and leading ladies. Have you hugged your BBW today?

Are Black Women Genetically Shaped Different Than White Women?

We see the shapes in all the magazines and on TV, but is it true? Are black bodies genetically different from white bodies? And if so, are Hispanic bodies genetically different than the others as well? This is relevant because in theory this would explain certain physical accomplishments that one group has achieved that another hasn't. This in no way would mean that one is superior to the other, though. Obviously everyone is anatomically the same, but genetically their are some differences.
A controversial study popularized by Fox News earlier this year claimed that Europeans had many more possibly harmful mutations than did Africans, and that it explained an advantage than one group supposedly had over another. I wouldn't go that far. My point is simply that people, races included, are different. That is cause for celebration, really, I mean the human stock is wonderfully diverse.

PopWifery

Photo of the Day: "Octopussy"

On a Scale on 1 to 10 ...

The Next Mary J. Blige: When?

As batons go, none have been as reluctant to receive it from music titan Mary J. Blige. In her 19-year career the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul has garnered:
- Won eight Grammys, being nominated 26 times.
- sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.
Been nominated for a Golden Globe.
Yet, there comes a time when the Next Best Thing should have arisen and been chomping at the bit: Who is the next Mary?
Who will be the premiere female voice for the digital age? Now, Mary has some music left in her, but it's obvious her niche will never again be for the teeny-boppers, or that she can resort to the vocoder; that is for the next artist. The woman's accomplishments and brand image are top-notch here in 2008. There's nothing more she can do for us musically, although the big and small screen still await. Still, many have tried to fill her shoes but have not measured up. Let's see there's been Monifa, Monica, Lil Mo, Chante Savage, Shanice, Jonelle, Janelle Monae, Ashanti, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, Solange Knowles, Beyonce Knowles, Keyshia Cole, Syleena Johnson, Alicia Keys, Blu Cantrell, and the list goes on.