Questions for the Zeitgeist- April 12, 2008- 50% More!!!

This is a "Sam's Club/Costco-size" edition of "Questions...", boys and girls! Today, you get 15 Questions for the price of 10... Enjoy!!!


1- Dating Janet Jackson, trysts with Karrine "Supahead" Steffans (whom he calls "a bad mother") and lesbian epithets hurled at his ex-wife...With the claims in his new book, 'The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But...', is Bobby Brown burning ALL of his bridges? Is it ANYTHING but The Truth? Given all of the grammatical errors contained in the advanced copy, isn't it 'The Truth' that Mr. Brown (and Mr. Handspike) should have used spell-check?

2- Harlem-born and "Star Track"- bred... Aren't we all waiting with bated breath for Teyana Taylor's Pharrell Williams-produced debut CD? Is she the second coming of ex-"Star Track" wildchild GODDESS Kelis?


3- Another Harlem-born ingenue...Doesn't rap chanteuse Lil Mama look like Bow Wow in "lip gloss"? Come to think of it- has anyone seen both of them in the same room AT THE SAME TIME? Moreover, doesn't Bow Wow have a song entitled "Hey Lil Mama"? Hmmmm...

4- Isn't socialite/designer Rachel Roy's collaboration with Manolo Blahnik for her Fall 2008 collection (the must-have Roy/Blahnik printed slingback peep-toe heel "bootie") the hottest thing Manolo has done since his take on the Timberland boot?


5- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday that the U.S. economy is officially in a recession. With the economy in a monetary downturn, can anyone AFFORD to buy those Rachel Roy Blahniks?











6- LOOOOVE her voice, but...Now that Mariah has surpassed Elvis in #1 singles, aren't we hoping she ups her fashion game? Seriously... at 38, how much longer are we going to have to put up with the "aging coquettish tart" look?










7- Speaking of upping her fashion game, isn't Michelle Williams- yes, THAT Michelle Williams- upping her sartorial cred in photos to promote her new single "We Break The Dawn"? Rocking styles like this, what would JESUS do?























8- "The OTHER Destiny's Child" isn't the only one getting an upgrade...The Motel 6 hotel chain is moving on up! If your room looked like this...
with flat-screen TVs, granite bathroom countertops and other amenities- all while still staying between $39 and $59 a night- wouldn't you re-think giving The Marriott Marquis and The W hundreds of dollars a night? That sounds recession proof to me...

9- Is the upcoming jailhouse wedding of rappers Remy Ma and Papoose really just a ghetto-faboulous version of Beyonce and Jay-Z's nuptials? Will they be shipping white tents and 60,000 orchids to Riker's Island? Will they put a nail file in the wedding cake?








10- America's Next Top Awards show...Just how "FIERCE" an idea was it for Tyra Banks to come up with 'The FIERCEE Awards" (honoring past and present 'America's Next Top Model' contestants)? How many of us will be planted in front of the television on April 30th, when the event telecast is set to air on Tyra's show?























Although she didn't win, didn't Miss Jade have the last laugh, looking the FIERCEST of all the contestants?









The Celebrity Fit Club Boot Camp certainly worked out for Miss Toccara, huh?



11- Wendy, Wendy, Wendy...You know The REAL RE-Edit thinks that Wendy Williams is a GODDESS, but...With her new television show slated to begin soon and her autobiographical movie starring Robin Givens in post-production, how untimely is "Wendygate" (the sexual harassment case being brought against her husband by her talent booker Nicole Spence)? How YOU doin', Wendy?

12- PLANET ROCK!!! Wendy isn't the ONLY one rocking the radio airwaves...Afrika Bambaataa will host his new XM Satellite radio show, "Zulu Beatz" on Channel 65 The Rhyme. Bambaataa plans to bring back the throwback sound of rap with the show's format, which will feature classic hip hop records that reflect the genre's evolution. "If you are tired of hearing the same 10 songs over and over again, then this is the show you don't want to miss," he says. Old school rap from the Father of Hip Hop- shouldn't all Radio One stations be worried?




13- Those in the art community are familiar with his work. Fashionistas clamored for his designs on Louis Vuitton purses. The majority of the hip hop cognoscenti perhaps became aware of his work when Kanye West commissioned him to design his last CD cover "Graduation". Now (by way of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles), a retrospective of his work lands this week at The Brooklyn Museum in New York. Who's excited about going to the retrospective exhibit of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami?





14- From the King of Contemporary Art to the Crown Jewel of Pop Art...Who remembers The Pop Shop on Lafayette St in SoHo NYC (the ecclectic late-80's Pop Art enclave which served as a HUGE supplier of Keith Haring imagery that eventually closed in 2005)? Isn't Japanese super-retailer Uni Qlo to be commended for trying to bring back the old Pop Shop days by offering Keith Haring T-Shirts? Don't we want to see what they do with Basquiat's images?

15- Where in the WORLD is Lauryn Hill?



FLASHBACK...
Teyana Taylor may be the new kid on Pharrell Williams/Chad Hugo's label imprint, but let's go back to the original first Lady Of Star Track- Kelis- with "Caught Out There (I Hate You So Much Right Now!)". At least Teyana has Kelis' (old) hair...

Questions for the Zeitgeist- April 5th, 2008- The "BeyonJay" edition!!!

Apparently, yesterday Shawn Carter FINALLY made an honest woman of Beyonce Knowles. The REAL RE-Edit doesn't mind saying that as far as its concerned, Beyonce is a GODDESS among women. But now that BEYONCE is no longer his FIANCE, you KNOW we had to post some Questions for the Zeitgeist, right?

1- Was Bey's wedding dress a "Tina Knowles special"?












2- Now that she's married, how long will it take for those thick, Creole child-bearing hips to spread in preparation of a little Sean Carter?

3- Once Beyonce has the heir to the Jay-Z throne, how long will it be before she's able to get back into her 'Freakum Dress'?




4- Were Kelly and Michelle fighting over who would be the maid of honor?

5- We understand that Bey and Jay have matching tattoos on their ring fingers of the Roman numeral four (IV)...
Didn't Jay listen to Bey's lyrics in her Giorgio Armani commercial?

Questions for the Zeitgeist- March 8, 2008- The New Black?

1- If you are black and a lover of comedy, you are undoubtedly a fan of this woman. Robert Townsend should thank her; she was the singular reason his mockumentary/comedy "Jackie's Back!" is an underground cult hit in the black/gay/progressive community. Bette Midler should bow at her feet; she sang backup for The Divine Miss M back in her bathhouse days. 'Dreamgirls' director Michael Bennett (God rest his soul), Jennifer Holiday AND Jennifer Hudson should thank their heavenly stars that she exists; she defined the role of Effie White in the Bennett-directed 'Dreamgirls' workshop which would go on to be a Broadway sensation, winning a Tony for Holiday AND an Oscar for Hudson. She's no stranger to Broadway productions (landing her first broadway role in 'Eubie'); she's had an off-Broadway one-woman show ('The Diva is Dismissed', which garnered her a NAACP Image Award) and she is slated to return to Broadway in April as Motormouth Maybelle in 'Hairspray'. She's the spunky relative that we all wished we had; she's played Angela Bassett's mother in 'What's Love Got To Do With It', Whitney Houston's mother in 'The Preacher's Wife', Tupac's mother in 'Poetic Justice', Morris Chestnutt's mother in 'The Brothers', Jill Marie Jones' mother in the UPN/CW series 'Girlfriends', Will Smith's aunt on 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air', Rockmond Dunbar's aunt in 'Dirty Laundry', Dean Davenport on 'A Different World' and (my favorite, after her turn as the flawed-diva-staging-a-comeback in 'Jackie's Back!') the ultraprovocative and completely campy talk-show host Delia Devaux on 'Living Single'. And these are just the roles I can think of off the top of my head!!! I hear she was funny as HELL in Tyler Perry's new movie 'Meet The Browns' (which I haven't seen yet), but she was THE comic relief in Perry's 'Madea's Family Reunion' as the over-the-top wedding planner. My question is...Why doesn't Jenifer Lewis have her OWN television show?

2- Speaking of Broadway...First Oprah produces 'The Color Purple'. Then Debbie Allen directs an all-black cast in a revival of Tennesse Williams' 'Cat On a Hot Tin Roof'. Now, Whoopi Goldberg is putting on her producer's hat- bringing Ntozake Shange's 'For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf' back to Broadway (starring neo-soul ingenue India. Arie). Is Broadway "under attack by the blacks"? Just how black is "The Great White Way" going to get?

3- Speaking of Oprah, why haven't YOU read Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" yet?





4- Richard Parsons leaves Time Warner/AOL . Stanley O'Neal is ousted from Merrill Lynch. Currently, there are just 5 black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in the U.S.- Kenneth Chenault at American Express being one of them. Which begs the question...If Chenault leaves, will American Express no longer offer their "Black card"?





5- Black-on-Black LOVE, smoked bacon in macaroni and cheese, and some of the best barbeque in Memphis... Isn't The Food Network's new cooking show 'Down Home With the Neelys' one of the most delicious new shows on television?





6- White-on-Black love, perhaps a little taste of minstrelsy, and (possibly) a great new social experiment on the big screen... In Ben Stiller's forthcoming summer film 'Tropic Thunder', Robert Downey Jr. is essentially in "blackface". In the movie, he's playing a white man playing a black man. Is this going to go over well with movie audiences? Does it help that the movie is a comedy?






7-Papi Chulo A.P.B...At the height of the "latin explosion", he was the first face of Sean John. He also ramped for Versace and Kenneth Cole. Now, he's nowhere to be found. Where in the world is the first latino male supermodel Will LeMay? (UPDATE...The REAL RE-Edit has just recently learned that LeMay is NOT, in fact, Latino. Although he appears such, he is actually mixed Carribean and French/Canadian. Thanks for the heads up, Phoenix!!!) UPDATE #2...It has been concluded that although not Latino, THE REAL RE-Edit feels the 'Papi Chulo' moniker is still appropriate! UPDATE #3... According to a VERY reliable source, Mr. LeMay was seen today (4/21/08) walking his dog in the East Village NYC- guess he's being incognito!!!









8- Speaking of Sean John...Shouldn't we give Bad Boy Sean Combs (and Bad Mama Bethann Hardison) credit for hiring all black male models for his Fall 2008 show?





9- Some say they got away with murder (literally!)...

a-Now that he's being charged with two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, burglary with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and coercion in his second (though much less-publicized) trial, has O.J. Simpson's luck finally run out?


b- Not be outdone by Simpson, "Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers is now facing two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, a dozen other drug-related charges and resisting arrest. Is this how a member of the Kennedy clan is supposed to act?





10- The REAL RE-Edit got hip to his garments while watching Robert Altman's fashion film 'Pret A Porter'. What happened to Mali-born Lamine Badian Kouyaté, the designer behind avant-garde fashion label Xuly Bet?





11- While we're talking about 'Pret A Porter', what happened to Jamaican-born up and coming model/Yves Saint Laurent muse Georgianna Robertson (who was featured in the movie)? Was she not supposed to be the the second coming of supermodel Beverly Peele?




FLASHBACK....For those of you STILL trying to get your Jenifer Lewis fix, I give you...the trailer from 1999's 'Jackie's Back'. If you don't already have it, go get this DVD... NOW!!!

Questions for the Zeitgeist- February 21, 2008

OK...Election fever has officially taken me over. Now, in addition to being the pop culture whore that I profess to be, I also risk becoming a politico! I have added CNN to my list of television channel favorites on my remote. (Well, I always had CNN Headline News in my favorites, but I gotta say...Wolf Blitzer's 'Situation Room' is a must-see on the daily for me now). Before we get to the REAL important stuff, let's take stock of what's going on in politics...



As of today, February 21st, 2008...

1- John McCain is trying to dodge the silver bullet that could kill his presidential hopes (a damning expose in The New York Times) by DENYING- with a capital "D"-that he had been , errrr, improperly involved with a female telecommunications lobbyist (who, incidentally, looks like a younger version of his current wife/sugar mama, Cindy. Hmmmm...)

2- Hillary Clinton is GAGGING over the onslaught of support her political rival Barack Obama has amassed by winning 11 straight electoral contests in a row. Apparently, Clinton thought by now it would be a toss up between her and a staunch Republican over who would be positioning themselves for the right to perpetuate the strangleholds of both the military-industrial complex and general corporate greed in this country (thanks for the warning, President Eisenhower!). Apparently, in addition to underestimating Obama's political acumen, she also hadn't counted on people actually believing Obama's "rhetoric" of hope and change beyond Super Tuesday.

3- Mitt Romney is cursing his advisors who told him to "suspend" his fight for the Republican Nomination and ascede to the Republican machinery by officially endorsing McCain, his former rival.



4- As a result of McCain's New York Times writeup, Mike Huckabee is chomping at the bit and restraining himself from issuing the almost irressistable "I told you so" while (literally)making his last stand at The Alamo. Maybe he'll take a break from building his bible-beating coalition aimed at challenging Roe vs. Wade long enough to reinvigorate his bible-beating conservative coalition to back him as the Republican Presidential candidate- whereupon, if hell freezes over and he indeed WINS the general election, he will undoubtedly challenge Roe vs. Wade as soon as he possibly can.

5- Barack Obama is probably finding it harder and harder to refrain from flashing a knowing grin as McCain and Clinton fight their respective sysiphusian battles for credibility. Or maybe he's scratching his head as to how he could beat Clinton 11 times in a row- by WIDE margins- and STILL have to wait until the contests in Texas and Ohio to find out if he will be the Democratic Nominee...

Think About It!!!

Now, onto your (never) regularly-scheduled program- Questions for the Zeitgeist!!!


1- Isn't the Fox Channel's animated series "American Dad" the funniest thing on TV right now? Isn't the resident alien Roger (who's voice is rather similar to the late great Paul Lynde) the most FEY cartoon character to hit animation since the Flintstone's resident alien The Great Gazoo?

2- Show of hands: who thinks they should just commit Britney Spears and check on her in 5 years?

3- But seriously, aren't we hoping against hope that Britney doesn't end up like Anna Nicole Smith?

4- With ABC's most popular show Grey's Anatomy seeming to have jumped the shark, wasn't it smart for Kate Walsh to jump ship over to her own "Private Practice"? Given his, errr, "experience" on Grey's, what is Isiah Washington going to do now that the show that allowed him to retain some semblance of dignity as an actor,"The Bionic Woman", is being cancelled?


5- Aren't we happy that the" blue-eyed soul" vocal powerhouse Taylor Dayne (who's new CD "Satisfied" is in stores now) is back on the scene? Shouldn't she do a shoutfest/duet with that OTHER blue-eyed vocal powerhouse Christina Aguillera?

16- If for no other reason than it showcases her infamous strut, isn't Naomi's commercial for Sobe Life Water the best 30 seconds a fashionista could ask for? (In the words of Beyonce..."Do the Naomi Campbell..walk! Naomi Campbell..walk! Walk across the room like Naomi Campbell...").


One more thing...Is Naomi EVER going to age??? Is she sleeping in the same hyperbaric chamber that MiJac is rumored to have slept in back in the day?



7- Aren't we waiting with bated breath for Queen Latifah's results from Jenny Craig?




8- Scarlett Johannson and Natalie Portman on the cover of W magazine or La Lohan on the cover of New York Magazine...which is hotter?





















9- Now that Fidel Castro has officially stepped down, will cigar afficionados be able to get a "good Cuban"?

10- With its REAL-LIFE modelling challenges and its well-connected (and well-meaning) judging panel, Is Bravo TV's "Make Me A Supermodel" poised to give Tyra's "America's Next Top Model" a run for its money?



FLASHBACK...Speaking of Taylor Dayne
Even though the name of her new CD is called "Satisfied", weren't we more than satisfied in the 80's when she begged us to "Tell It To My Heart"?