Entries from August 2006 ↓

We’re experiencing technical difficulties maintaining our wireless connection at home. The fact that we’ve never actually paid for it may have something to do with the problem. It is being rectified by the ordering of DSL service which hopefully will kick-in sometime in the next 10 days. Stay tuned.

I’ve never been a big fan of reality tv shows, but I am hooked on Project Runway. I just started watching for the first time this year and just a few weeks ago, but it’s got riveting backstage drama, tension, catty backstabbing competition, and a touch of creativity. And there’s a talented young Black designer, Michael Knight , who is clearly head and shoulders above the competition. It remains to be seen if he will win it all in the end.

It was for that very reason that I stopped watching The Apprentice after season two. Black candidates who were obviously better qualified got vitctimized by Donald Trump’s version of the old boy network. I’d had enough.

But Project Runway for the most part has each competitor working alone and we can see whose designs and sewing skills are up to snuff and whose aren’t. It’s delicious watching certain divas who are too full of themselves wind up on the runway facing possible elimination or get sent home for flat out cheating .

And has it occurred to you too that were it not for the gay folks running the fashion industry, the world would be naked (or just horribly dressed)?

But Project Runway comes on the same time as Noah’s Arc on LOGO, so now I’m torn. Thank God, they are both rerun a gazillion times over the course of the week. Last week as Noah debuted season two, I was on the phone doing a podcast interview with Karsh, so I missed both shows. Nova has given us an hilarious review of the episode, and John has also given us his take on it. I still want to see for myself.

LOGO will air the television premiere of a great little independent film we saw last year, The Reception. The first showing is this Sunday night, but it will also be repeated at other times during the month.

Neo-soul singer Donnie was in NYC Friday night, at Joe’s Pub. I truly wanted to join other friends who took in the show, but this unemployment has put a crimp in my entertainment budget. Luckily Kenyon offered his review.

Check out this online film festival. The Media That Matters Film Festival offers us short films from filmmakers on topics that probably won’t make your local cineplex. Take particular note of film number 2, “A Girl Like Me.”

I’ve done some tweaking to my blog list on the right, adding some folks, removing others. Don’t write to me if you don’t see your blog listed there. It ain’t that deep. This list constantly changes, usually without notice.

Speaking of bloggers, Andres at Blabbeando celebrated his one year anniversary. New addition Curtis, from The Allen Gallery, marks a birthday.

And in a few short weeks, yours truly will mark three years in the blogosphere. If you go to my wishlist and order now, your gift will get to me on time!

Three term U.S. Senator from Connecticut Joseph Lieberman has lost his Democratic primary bid for re-election to challenger Ned Lamont by some 10,000 votes, in a hotly contested and carefully watched race that may prove to be a referendum on the Bush Administration and the unpopular war in Iraq.

Lamont, a wealthy cable executive, struck a chord with Connecticut voters by criticizing Lieberman’s support for the invasion of Iraq and his soft stance on other Bush policies. He took close to 52 percent of the votes, carrying many of the state’s smaller towns.

Lamont’s victory is widely believed to a bad omen for Democrats across the country who supported the war. It may signal a trend to turn out those incumbents and replace them with more moderate or progressive candidates.

Lieberman however has vowed to stay in the general election, running as an independent, which could split the Democratic vote in the fall and enable a Republican to win the seat.

We think Joe Lieberman should recognize the handwriting on the wall and graciously step aside. Not only are the winds of change in the air, but they need to be. The opportunity to shift the balance of power in both halls of Congress away from the GOP is within reach and Connecticut needs to hold onto its seat but with a Democrat who will openly oppose the failed policies of this administration.

Conscientious voters everywhere should contact Senator Lieberman and tell him to drop out of the race. His campaign website is down but you can contact him through his senate office.

What happens in the life of a young person to steer them towards a life of crime? Is it nature or nurture? Are people born pre-disposed to criminal behavior or is it a preponderance of negative influences and societal failings that allows some kids to fall through the cracks of an over-bloated, disinterested educational system?

These and other related questions will be explored as HBO’s highly regarded drama The Wire kicks off its fourth season on Sunday, September 10.

Through three previous seasons The Wire has depicted the travails of an American city, Baltimore, Maryland to be specific, but clearly one with problems not unlike those faced by countless other cities.

Season one focused on the drug trade and the desperate straits some poor, mostly Black residents find themselves in where pushers and addicts live side-by-side and are largely indistinguishable in their struggle to survive. Season two looked at the declining economic base and how the loss of good-paying jobs for the city’s dockworkers was speeding the city’s decay and driving the drug trade. Season three, now available on DVD, exposed government ineptitude at City Hall and the frustrations and creativity of law enforcement in trying to find solutions in the absence of top-level leadership.

Series Executive Producer David Simon promises this season will be just as searing in shining a spotlight on the public school system. While viewers have followed closely the lives of drug kingpins Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale, gay gangster Omar, street dealers Bodie and Poot, and addict and police informant Bubbles, this season will ask the question, how did these people get this way? It will follow the troubled lives of four teenage kids (shown above).

Simon and Story Editor Bill Zorzi have provided background on the HBO website into how they approached the research and writing of this season’s episodes, the storylines they will highlight and where the series may be headed next.

Attempting to provoke serious thought while also entertaining viewers isn’t always a blueprint for success, however. Despite the high quality of this show both in its acting and writing, it has always struggled to gain a widespread audience, despite enjoying a small, yet devoted following and critical acclaim. A commitment to a new season wasn’t made by HBO until late last year. Perhaps the fourth time is the charm and more new viewers will understand why The Wire is such riveting television.

The sports world has been buzzing this week with further news of illegal substance use by celebrated athletes.

Saturday the results of a second drug test on 2006 Tour de France champion Floyd Landis confirmed the elevated levels of testosterone discovered in an earlier post-race test. Landis has been fired by his racing team and may be stripped of his title, in a sport that has a long history of allegations of performance enhancing drug use.

This comes almost a week after the revelation by American sprinter Justin Gatlin that he too had tested positive for testosterone use, banned by the international track federation as a possible performance booster, following a race in April. If this is confirmed he could face a lifetime ban from track and field competition. Gatlin is a co-holder of the World Record in the 100 meters.

Major league baseball has kept up its connection to drug scandal news. On the heels of last weekend’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, speculation has arisen over next year’s eligible candidates, who include former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGuire. McGuire ended his career under a cloud of suspicion over alleged steroid use. Those rumors were exacerbated by his unwillingness to comment openly during Senate hearings on steroid use in sports earlier this year.

All of this while baseball tries to figure out what to do about current home run king Barry Bonds, who while unproven as an illegal substance user, has been the subject of numerous investigations.

The list of alleged or confirmed banned substance users in sports goes on and on: Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Lance Armstrong, Ben Johnson, to name a few. But for as long as we have been discussing this issue, and sports leagues and governing bodies have imposed rules, regulations and sanctions, the problem has continued. Those who have tried to bend the rules have grown more clever in their attempts to mask their substance use. So why does the problem persist?

As much as I am no fan of drug use, I also loathe hypocrisy and that issue rears its ugly head all over this problem.

First, let’s be clear. We are not talking about “street” drugs. These athletes are not accused of using crack, heroin, marijuana or any of the other types of narcotics that are illegal under state or federal law. Most of the substances that sports leagues ban are otherwise legal drugs. You or I could get a doctor to prescribe many of them if they were deemed necessary. It is the fact that they might otherwise boost an already good athlete’s ability to perform above their competition, and thus gain an unfair advantage, that makes them “illegal” under sports rules.

Second, over-the-counter, prescription drug abuse is a growing national problem, not just among athletes, but among the rest of us. The pharmaceutical industry has thoroughly convinced us the solution to our problems can be found at the drug store. Can’t sleep? Take a sleeping pill. Need to stay up all night? Pop an energy pill. Want to lose weight fast without having to go to a gym? Take a diet pill. Every man over 40 who dreams of having the sex drive he had at 20, knows the holy trinity of Viagra, Levitra and Cialis. Talk about your performance enhancing drugs!

In fact watch about a half hour of television in the evening and you will see commercials for a wide variety of “solutions”: Lipitor, Nexium, Rogaine, Zyrtec, are some of the common advertisers. My doctor has told me he has no shortage of patients who self-diagnose through these television ads and want him to prescribe medications. These commercials almost always include the tag line, “Ask your doctor about (insert name of the drug).”

Is it any wonder then athletes also seek solutions to their competitive problems through drugs? They have been raised in the same environment as everyone else. They are receiving the same subliminal messages we all are. To the argument that athletes are dependent on their bodies and should not risk their health in this manner, well yes, but they also have a narrow window within which to earn a living off that body. Most sports stars are considered over the hill by age 30 and need to get as much mileage as they can in just a few years before opportunities diminish. That’s not an excuse to use performance enhancers, but the short-term gains may seem to far outweigh the long-term health considerations.

To my mind, appealing to people from a health standpoint is the only way to really address it adequately. Americans love the militaristic jingoism of a “War on
Drugs” just like the “War on Terrorism” or the “War on Crime” but history shows we’ve lost or are losing all of those wars.

We also love to point the figure of blame at “those people.” In this case it’s the sports community, but in other instances it has been inner city (read: Black) communities, people in show business, liberals, hippies, or anybody else we want to make the scapegoat. Some of the biggest critics have themselves been the biggest hypocrites and prescription drug abusers.

But in reality, it is all of us. America is a nation of drug users and unless we recognize that very simple and basic fact, we will never really begin to deal with the problem.

Instead of punitive laws or rules, we need to be teaching people about the real long-term negative health repercussions of drug dependence and providing effective drug treatment programs to help those who are addicted, whether to prescription or street drugs. We need to begin at an early age teaching people the value of proper diet, exercise and rest as a way to a healthier lifestyle. Cracking the whip, getting tough with offenders and imposing new sanctions, has never worked and will only result in another generation of people who don’t understand the consequence of their actions but who will work diligently to circumvent the rules.