Vanessa: Unplugged!

Miami Heat - 89 Detroit Pistons - 78

The Miami Heat will go to Auburn Hills up 3-1 over the Detrot Pistons. Why the Pistons couldn't hang on is a mystery. The Pistons will be out of this series unless they make a tremendous turn around soon. Don't count the Pistons out. Game 5 is Wednesday.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Miami Heat up by 12; 2:16 left

Rasheed Wallace has fouled out and now the Miami Heat are up by 14 over the Detroit Pistons. This is not the same Pistons team from he first half. Guess all that white-wearing, Santeria-based sh*t is working! We can breathe easier now that one-half of the Wallace Boys is out.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Miami Heat vs. Detroit Pistons

The Miami Heat were up by two at the start of the fourth quarter. With the quarter more than half over, the Heat are up by 10! D-Wade is in the zone and the Pistons appear to have lost heir spark. It would be great to go to Detroit with only one more win needed to seal this deal. Five minutes is still a lot of time in the NBA...

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

X-Men 3

X-Men 3 was number one at the box-office in the United States this past weekend. I doubt that’s a news flash considering the marketing of the film. I did not see it but everyone that I know that saw the film, loved it.

I can’t get into the X-Men thing; I really tried after the first movie. I know about the mutants --- somewhat. The only ones I can name are Wolverine and Storm. There must be something to this X-Madness because grown a** men are totally engrossed in the X-men saga. I really don’t care that X-men purists declare that Halle Berry is not statuesque enough nor dark enough for the role. I’ve been told that Naomi Campbell or Beverly Johnson would be a better choice but, you know what? I DO NOT CARE!

$120 million is some serious loot and tells me that I could really be missing something. I mean it’s just a comic book brought to life for Christ’s sake. It’s not nearly as important as the soon to be released Sugar Baby Barbie Doll, which is the first doll released from Byron Lars’, Chapeaux Collection for Mattel. Now that’s important!

I may not see X-Men 3 in the movie theatre, but I'll definitely see it when it comes on cable TV.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Congressman Jefferson and the Cold Cash

The FBI's raid of the office of Congressman William J. Jefferson of Louisiana, has resulted in some strange political bedfellows. Bill Frist, has broken ranks with some of his fellow Republicans to defend the actions of the FBI. Well, it's about time.

I must admit that this situation just doesn't look good for Rep. Jefferson. With alleged ties to schemes with Nigerian businessmen, recorded conversations and that $90, 000 found in his freezer, it's just downright funky. How Jefferson gets out of this is beyond me.

Personally, I hold Black politicians to a higher standard than others. Yeah, that may not be right but, damn, Blacks folks, as a group have so much more ground to cover politically, economically and educationally. To have folks, elected officials none the less, proceed to rip-off others and not look out for the community is inexcusable.

OK, so that sounds twisted to you, right? Well, I'm dealing with reality. I don't condone illegality but dammit, Black politicians appear to be only group of elected officials who don't look out for their people because they are so busy looking out for themselves. To add insult to injury, Black voters continue to put the crooks 'n liars back in office.

Well, I may be in the minority, but I don't give passes to Black politicians just because we are the same hue. Just like ministers, Black politicians are held to a higher standard in my book. No passes and no free rides. It's time for Blacks to hold political, economic, religious and education leaders accountable. It's just that simple.

As far as Congressman Jefferson is concerned, the jury is still out and the American public should be questioning the motives of the politicians who so vigorously defend him. Hey, don't get mad at me because it's the truth!

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Common Hasn't Lost His Sense

Here's an interview with rapper Common from 2000. It gives you insight as to the person that he is. In an industry that is so jaded, hopefully Common will remain true to his underground hip-hop roots and not be influenced to much by the cha-ching of his association with Kanye West.

Rapper Common Hasn't Lost His Sense

By: Matt Sonzala (Alpha -N- Omega Project)

Hailing from the south side of Chicago, but currently residing in Brooklyn, New York, Common is one of hip hop's most prolific, and engaging voices. His no nonsense approach to putting down his rhymes goes hand in hand with his vision for a more culturally aware world. His career has taken him around the planet, and on his new album, "Like Water For Chocolate," he shares his excitement and zest for positivity through rhymes that range from comical to revolutionary to inter-stellar. Matt Sonzala talks to Common about Cuba, Jazz, and life as a nomad.

ANO: WHATS ON YOUR MIND THESE DAYS MAN?

Common: Just you know, love and happiness. That's what I'm focusing on.

ANO: ON YOUR NEW RECORD YOU TALK A LOT ABOUT YOUR RECENT TRAVELS AND EXPERIENCES, MOST NOTABLY YOUR TRIP TO CUBA TO MEET ASSATA SHAKUR (former Black Panther living in exile in Cuba). CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT MEETING?

Common: Well I went down to Cuba to meet Assata Shakur and it was one of the most special moments of my life. It was like meeting my mother. It was like meeting a sister. Meeting a cool friend. She's a living martyr really, like somebody who sacrificed their life for freedom for all people. It was like meeting history, like meeting the revolution right there. She was cool. Just because she's a revolutionary it's not like she don't joke and stuff, cuz she is a person. She's got emotions like all of us. Cuba was such a beautiful experience. First of all it's a beautiful place. You see people there really fighting for what they believe in and sacrificing. They want socialism and they believe in revolution. They are not trying to succumb to the international powers that be. It was like that whole spirit and the spirit of the music. Man, music is everywhere.

ANO: WAS MEETING ASSATA YOUR SOLE REASON FOR GOING TO CUBA?

Common: That was the reason basically.

ANO: WHAT OTHER THINGS DID YOU DO OUT THERE? DID YOU STAY IN HAVANA? DID YOU PERFORM?

Common: I stayed in Havana. I went out there twice. One time I went out and performed at a hip hop festival. I went to a couple of jazz joints. Went to all the restaurants. Went to the hip hop festival last August. It was an experience man.

ANO: DID YOU GET TO GO TO CUBA LEGITIMATELY (The American government prohibits Americans from going to Cuba, but there are ways to get around it) OR DID YOU HAVE TO DO SOME TRAVELLING TO GET THERE?

Common: We had to travel

ANO: WHAT'S THE HIP HOP FESTIVAL ALL ABOUT DOWN THERE?

Common: Man what's so dope is you got cats who ain't had the opportunity to have MPC 3000s, or turntables, but they make it with whatever they can do. They get instrumentals from American hip hop artists or wherever they get them and they get up and they do what they feel. Talk about their culture and their struggle and they are really going through a certain struggle, they really have a story to tell. It was so beautiful man. It felt spiritual too. It was an event man where it wasn't just music being done. There were cats painting in the background. People was talking about certain political issues. The spirit was there. Assata Shakur was there. Other freedom fighters and political prisoners were there. So when I performed it was like "wow."

ANO: CAN YOU COMPARE THE PLIGHT OF THE PEOPLE IN CUBA TO THE PLIGHT OF THE POOR FOLKS LIVING IN THE PROJECTS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO?

Common: To a certain extent but I think the Cubans got an agenda. They know that we are going through the struggle for this reason or we believe that our people should have health care and a good life. But I think like with the struggle in the neighborhoods, we all trying to get it but we all fighting over certain things. We don't have an agenda or a unified cause. I think that a lot of brothers in the ghetto, sometimes we lack that self knowledge. Just knowing who you are means a whole lot. And I can't say that every Cuban knows that, but they have an agenda. They behind Castro, they know what they fighting for, they know what Castro stands for, they just got a solidified fight.

ANO: WHAT OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD HAVE TOUCHED YOU IN THAT WAY?

Common: Brazil. They got a struggle going on too. We was down there and people was talking about how, yo there's people really going through some of the stuff that the American rappers be talking about, as far as the pure ghetto. Brazil was beautiful too, but Cuba was the best experience. I like Japan man cuz it's a progressive culture and you get to get in to a whole new existence as far as technology, language, the foods. I like it there. I actually like Stockholm, Sweden too.

ANO: YOU RECENTLY MOVED FROM CHICAGO TO NEW YORK. CAN YOU COMPARE THE CLIMATE OF LIVING IN NEW YORK TO LIVING IN CHICAGO?

Common: Well, I love home first of all, so ain't no place like Chicago to me. But being here for my career and my life right now is real dope. New York is like a melting pot of musicians. It's a melting pot of cultures. There's a lot of variety and the movement of it is so, not only competitive, but there's a certain, not only hunger, but a certain work ethic and hustle that they got out here that's dope. Chicago, we more laid back. We on our hustle, but we're more laid back. We're very observant. We more the type to sit back and watch. They'll observe, then make a move. But in New York, it's do or die. They'll make the move right there. Chicago is real segregated. I love Chicago for it's beauty and it's home and my family is there. But in New York you are exposed to a lot of culture. There's something to do all the time. I can go to an African restaurant, go to a Thai restaurant or go see somebody play jazz at three in the morning on Tuesday.

ANO: YEAH THE EXTREME SEGREGATION OF CHICAGO BOTHERS ME. BUT THERE'S AN INCREDIBLE COMMUNITY OF MUSICIANS OUT HERE AS WELL.

Common: Man there's super musicians in Chicago man. Super soulful, artists, musicians. You got a lot of it, but another thing with New York is they got access to a lot of things because it's an entertainment city too. It's so much going on so that's one of the big differences.

ANO: ALL THE CATS OUT HERE IN THE RAP GAME BLAME THE LACK OF MUSIC INDUSTRY IN CHICAGO TO THE LACK OF ARTISTS WHO ACTUALLY MAKE IT. DO YOU THINK THAT'S THE CASE?

Common: That's part of it, but you know, for an artist to make it he's gotta be heard and get it to the world. There's a lot of artists out there that's dope but they ain't been able to get signed or they album didn't get released correctly because they didn't have the proper label, proper management, proper plan. There's a lot of artists out there that ain't been exposed to the world because they haven't had the opportunity to utilize the best resources. I mean point blank, New York and LA are the capitals for entertainment and being out here is like a benefit for that. Unless an artist can get to a certain level financially, and status wise, there's only so much he gonna be able to do for people in his city. The only thing he can do right then and there is put them on his album or try to help them get heard by an A&R.

ANO: ALL OF YOUR ALBUMS HAVE HAD A CERTAIN JAZZY TONE TO THEM, BUT ON THIS ONE YOU'VE GOT SOME DEEP GROOVES RUNNING THROUGH IT. IN BETWEEN SONGS, THROUGHOUT THE SONGS. I THINK THE JAZZ SCENE IN CHICAGO IS INCREDIBLE. WERE THERE ANY CHICAGO JAZZ ARTISTS WHO YOU CAME UP AROUND WHO MIGHT HAVE HAD AN INFLUENCE ON YOU?

Common: Well I can say this. Coming up, I didn't hear jazz as much because I don't think that that's what my mother was listening to. So I didn't hear it a lot, but I did get into it. The artists I appreciate is like Ahmad Jamal, I don't think he was born in Chicago but he came up from there. Gene Ammons, this saxophone player. Herbie Hancock is from Chicago and I definitely love his stuff. But coming up, I got into jazz later, like going to the jazz festivals and stuff like that. So that came later in life, but as far as now what I'm really digging, I mean it don't even be cats that you would know.

ANO: I MIGHT KNOW THEM.

Common: O.K. Well like, Roy Hargrove. It's this guy Kenyatta who I went to see the other day but I forgot his last name. I seen Max Roach here. This sax player called Teodrous Avery. A lot of these young cats. I mean I just know some of them by first name cuz I just go see them and check them out. I like this piano player named James Hirt. Stefon Harris, this vibe player. Ruben Rogers. Chris McBride. Greg Hutchinson. Kareem Briggans.

ANO: TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BAND YOU TOUR WITH.

Common: The band is called A BLACK GIRL NAMED BECKY and we have five pieces in it. Two keyboards, DJ, bass, drums, and I'm gonna add some horns to it and sometimes some congas. Man we just try to give y'all a soulful show so you feel like, man, I felt them brothers playing. We want you to feel each spirit that comes through the instrument.

ANO: WILL YOU CONTINUE TO TOUR WITH THE BAND? WILL YOU EVER RECORD WITH THEM?

Common: Yeah as a matter of fact we just started rehearsing again. We gonna do A BLACK GIRL NAMED BECKY album, but it's not gonna be a Common Sense album. It's gonna be tight. I'd only rap on one or two songs and we would get other artists to come bless it.

ANO: ON "APHRODESIAC FOR THE WORLD" YOU SAY YOU WENT "FROM BASHFUL, TO ASSHOLE, TO INTERNATIONAL," WHY DO YOU SAY ASSHOLE?

Common: Well I mean at times some people have looked at me as being like, being an asshole. I used to be out with my guys sometimes doing dumb things. Disrespecting folks to a certain point, so I mean, that's an asshole to me. I wasn't totally asshole, but that was part of it.

ANO: ON "THE SIXTH SENSE" YOU SOUND LIKE YOU ARE SAYING THAT YOU TAKE A CERTAIN RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MESSAGE YOU SEND OUT. DO YOU THINK THAT MORE RAPPERS SHOULD THINK MORE RESPONSIBLY WHEN WRITING THEIR RHYMES?

Common: I don't know if I can tell rappers what to do but I feel like, I would ask that as young black men and women being able to speak to the world that we at least take some responsibility for our youth. If we gonna talk shit, then we should explain it and let them know the different sides to life. About whatever you might be basing it on that might be perceived as negative, but it ain't in connection with the Supreme Being. Put it this way, if you got the opportunity to speak to the world, and God gave you that platform, and you know what's right then you should reflect what's right through your music. It ain't gotta be preachy. It ain't gotta be all about that, it could be balanced. At some point in time you should definitely acknowledge the righteousness that you know and you should live it too. That's what I'm striving for. I'm not saying I'm perfect but that's what I'm striving to do. We as MC's affect the children. We affect peoples lives, even old folks. It means a lot. Hip hop is one of the biggest catalyst phenomenon's right now in the world. So you gotta be responsible with your stuff.

ANO: TELL ME ABOUT THE COMMON GROUND FOUNDATION.

Common: It's basically established to help children get computers and help take them on trips around the world so they can see different parts and get exposed to different cultures. A lot of our children don't get to see nothing besides their neighborhood. We also set up programs for day care, little league, but it's in its incubation stage right now. As we speak everything is coming together.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

Labels: Common, Entertainment, Music

Father kills himself and children

Dr. Edward Van Dyk, an oncologist on staff at an Alton, IL hospital, was vacationing at the fabulous but overpriced, Loew’s Hotel on Miami Beach when he killed himself and his two sons.

Van Dyk and his wife, who was in the bathroom at the time the children were killed, were experiencing marital problems but nothing that signaled the devastation that occurred.

Memorial Day vacationers and Hip-Hop Weekend celebrants were shocked by the murder suicide. Some were so visibly upset that they were unable to speak immediately after the incident.

To take the lives of innocent children is what makes this murder-suicide so heinous, cowardly and selfish. No suicide note was found. Hopefully answers will be revealed. Police are with Mrs. Van Dyk, also a doctor, until her family can be located.

For more info, click link below.
Doctor kills children, himself

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

The Rudest Drivers?

A recent survey indicates that the rudest drivers live in my city --- Miami, Florida. We're worst than New York and LA, dayum. I'm not proud, but I'm not surprised either. In Miami, if your car does not move within 1 millisecond after the light turns green, expect some impatient idiot to lean on his horn.

Miami drivers either speed or drive way too slow. Visiting drivers are obvious; they're the ones using their turn signals. Miami drivers also tailgate so close you want to ask for dinner and a movie. On the bright side, my driving experience has broadened my multicultural exposure. I've learned to use expletives in 7 languages, including sign language.

The Worst Cities for Road Rage: 1. Miami

2. Phoenix

3. New York

4. Los Angeles

5. Boston

Cities With the Most Courteous Drivers:
1. Minneapolis

2. Nashville

3. St. Louis

4. Seattle

5. Atlanta

Top 10 Driving Pet Peeves:

1. Motor Mouths: Distracted drivers talking on cell phones.

2. Turtle Racers: Slow drivers in the fast lane.

3. Piggybackers: Pushy drivers who tailgate.

4. Wacky Weavers: Drivers who weave through traffic to gain one or two car lengths.

5. Gap Snatchers: Obnoxious drivers who speed up to keep you from changing lanes.

6. Space Invaders: Hasty drivers who change lanes without signaling.

7. Road Ragers: Those drivers who feel the slow burn and red hot anger of road rage--and then act on it.

8. Speed Racers: Motorcyclists who race down the middle of a lane between cars.

9. Driving Divas: Women applying makeup and men shaving.

10. Morse Coders: Drivers who leave their turn signal on for miles.

As far as pet peeves, I'm guilty of #1 but I use my headset or speakerphone and definitely #9. Sorry, I'll try to do better but that won't help our rating. More and more people move here everyday without enough space to accommodate them.

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged

We Are All African

this article is from issue 154, Darwin and the Evangelicals >

We Are All African by Derek Kaill

Christopher diCarlo. Photo by Brian Clewley.

Dr Christopher diCarlo is a philosopher and an educator. His job is to teach such courses as Critical Thinking and the Philosophy of Medicine. Dr diCarlo, who received his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Waterloo, is a charming and challenging man. A strong mind and a sharp wit help make him extremely well-suited for his profession.

Recently, while performing the very duties that define his occupation, Dr diCarlo became involved in what many would consider an unjust controversy. In fact his position, and future, at Wilfrid Laurier University may be in jeopardy.

It begins with a shirt — a unique t-shirt designed by Dr diCarlo himself — which states in eye-catching print ‘We are all African’ (diCarlo, it should be pointed out, is a Caucasian man). Last June, I attended a Humanist Association of Canada conference entitled ‘Humanism Now!’ held in Ottawa and featuring the presentation of the HAC Humanist of the Year award to the highly-deserving Evelyn Martens. Dr diCarlo was one of the many intriguing and thought-provoking speakers at the conference. It was there that I heard the story of this shirt, and its intended anti-racist message of the shared ancestry of humankind. He told how his message was perceived by some, in a disturbingly contradictory twist as both racist and, due to its foundation in scientific methodology, Eurocentric.

I had the opportunity to speak to Dr diCarlo, both at the conference and a few days later over the telephone. When I first called, he was in the middle of making lunch for his sons, Jeremy and Matt, so I phoned back a little while later. My first question was about his original reason or reasons for having the t-shirt printed.

He explained: “I think philosophers, and academics in general, need to be more, rather than less, vocal about issues which affect all of our lives. The shirt was printed to generate a forum for discussion. It’s not so much, ‘Look at me, I’m right. Hear what I have to say!’ but rather it’s an avenue for dialogue.”

At the Ottawa conference Dr diCarlo had mentioned that he’d worn the ‘We are all African’ shirt while in Texas. I asked him why he had gone there, and whether or not he’d received responses to the t-shirt.

“The Human Behavior and Evolution Society was meeting in Austin. What better place, I thought, to introduce the concept that we all have a common lineage, than in the buckle of the Bible belt. I did get some bad looks … the worst was from a police officer in the Alamo. It was what you’d call a sideways glance — sort of stared me up and down.”

Discouraging certainly, but not all of his shirt-related encounters in Texas were unpleasant. He tells me of another incident in San Antonio: all evidence clearly points to a common ancestry, from Africa.

“Now, I did have a great response from an African-American woman. She said, ‘I love your shirt! And I want to thank you for wearing it.’ She wanted to know where I’d bought it. I told her that I’d made it myself. I would have given it to her if I had another shirt to wear at the time, but we were quite a distance from our hotel.”

Considering fossils, migratory patterns, tool and material manipulation patterns, and the National Genographic Project, Dr diCarlo says that all evidence clearly points to a common ancestry, from Africa. During one lecture in his course on Critical Thinking he was explaining this to his students. An aboriginal woman was firmly opposed.

Here is how Dr diCarlo remembers the exchange: “How do you really know that?” she asked him. “Some people say that, others refute it. Carbon dating is flawed. And now there’s evidence that there may have been people before then … My people don’t believe in what you’re saying.”

After recognizing the validity of a portion of the student’s arguments, Dr diCarlo spoke to her final statement: “I understand that some of your people do not — would not — accept this, and I would maintain that they’re wrong.”

Considering the fact that he was teaching a course on critical thinking, Dr diCarlo then made a suggestion that nicely illustr-ated what the course was about: “If you will accept evidence, then I will bring in the evidence that I have now, and you could bring in your evidence, that counters it, from an Aboriginal point of view. Then we could put it all on the table, and this would be a great basis for debate.”

The tone was not sarcastic but, rather, a sincere attempt to perform the function for which the University employs him — to teach students about critical thinking. The woman never returned to his classroom. Instead, she complained to the University, along with two other students who were opposed to his “religiously insensitive” position on evolution. The objections apparently focused on Dr diCarlo’s comments on religion and evolution, but also indicated concern about fair grading and “talking about sex in class.”

Dr diCarlo told me about being called into a meeting with the Associate Dean, where he was confronted, in what he calls a “vague manner,” about the students’ complaints. The concern about his talking about sex during a lecture baffled him. “I knew I was being pulled for something pertaining to religion, but what was this talking about sex about?” Later, while talking about the incident with a colleague, it came to him, “I think he must have been referring to homosexuality.”

Dr diCarlo had explained to his class that evidence seems to suggest homosexuality to be, in part at least, a genetic propensity, and that this could possibly provide a better understanding of this aspect of human nature — that it is not a ‘life choice’ but inherent, and therefore should not be considered morally problematic.

The meeting with the Associate Dean ended without any explicit details at all. The three students also wrote letters of complaint to the Associate Dean.

As the person at Wilfrid Laurier with seniority teaching the subject, Dr diCarlo is a suitable and deserving candidate for the currently-available position of full-time Professor of Critical Thinking. He had been previously short-listed for such a position. Under normal circumstances, he would be a very strong candidate. But he is no longer. As it stands it seems he is to be passed over, apparently because of the complaints. Although the Administration denies that the letters from the three students affected their decision, the Union became involved and the matter is now the subject of a grievance under the Collective Agreement.

And so this educator and author of How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass awaits further word on whether or not his career is to be hindered for the crime of being a strong-minded and free-thinking teacher of philosophy.

Socrates was the same sort of pain in the ass, as were/are Galileo, David Hume, Rosa Parks, Noam Chomsky, Henry Morgantaler and of course, Charles Darwin, whose pioneer work in the field of evolutionary theory has helped us to learn that we are all of a shared origin. Some day the name Christopher diCarlo, or perhaps someone he taught, could belong on that list.
He deserves the support of all humanists.

Derek Kaill, President of the Humanist Association of London and Area, is an orthodox agnostic and father of one.

Memorial Day (Hip-Hop) Weekend on Miami Beach

It’s Memorial Day (Hip-Hop) Weekend in Miami. Most of the locals will stay away from South Beach. Way too much traffic, way too many pedestrians and way too many hoochies and thugs. Black folks riding scooters and bikes everywhere even black women on jet skis getting their hair wet!

Now don't get me wrong, I believe that everyone should have a good time, chill out and release some stress. But where do these poeple come from? Spending big dough on the Beach...hmmm...money we can spend on our own businesses but let me not go there. Well, may just a little.

Blacks contribute so much to the Miami Beach economy via Hip-Hop Weekend, BET Spring Bling, video shoots, meetings and the like with next to nothing to show as far as economic and political clout. Knowing the history of racial discrimination on Miami Beach and recent incidents of the same, I am always baffled by Blacks who patronize the area and never go across the bridge to the mainland to see how the real people live.

With the number of Black celebrities who frequent the area, and Blacks moving back to the south, Miami should be a political, economic, educational and cultural Mecca. Instead, the area is pimped everyday and negative images of Black folk prevail.

Here are some reasons why I don't do Hip-Weekend or Spring Bling...

© 2006 VANESSA BYERS, Vanessa: Unplugged