Er zijn de laatste tijd weer heel wat nieuwe trailers op het net verschenen. Ik heb er enkele uitgekozen die volgens mij zeker de moeite waard zijn om te gaan bekijken. Omdat het al een tijdje geleden is zijn het er extra veel.

1. Exam

2. Salt

3. Date Night

4. Kick-Ass

5. Greenberg

6. Brothers

7. Grown Ups

I’m writing this on the day after Thanksgiving, on a day when I have adopted the lifestyle of my cats and barely moved. My fiancée and I are recovering from a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at her sister’s house in South Philadelphia with her immediate family, a few friends and my Aunt Rose.

Since our engagement, a reality show on TLC, Say Yes to the Dress, has become a staple on our television, through no choice of my own. In all fairness, she has put up with a healthy diet of sports, so what’s fair is fair. At least we agree on Cake Boss.

Bridezilla

I don’t know which surprises me more: The jaw-dropping price tags attached to just about every single item associated with weddings, or the piles of money brides-to-be and their families are willing to shell out for things that will be used once. Example: a veil, which is barely one square yard of fabric that will be worn for less than one hour, costs $600. Are you serious?

My proposed reality show is an answer to Say Yes to the Dress, but it’s only directed at the spoiled-brat-type brides found on another reality TV disaster, WE tv’s Bridezillas.

In my reality show, the worst, bitchy, spoiled, high-maintenance, demanding brides-to-be will shop at a high-end bridal salon modeled after the establishment behind Say Yes to the Dress, Kleinfeld Bridal. Rather than trying to establish some base of reason, their family and friends, along with the staff of the store, will cater to their every whim and let them think they’re getting everything they want.

Then, just when the princess thinks she’s completely gotten her way, the star of the show emerges. I have two people in mind: Chris Rock, or Damon Wayans in character as Homey D. Clown from classic 1990s Fox comedy-sketch series In Living Color. The star then proceeds to berate the princess, while the audience (myself in particular) cackles themselves into a frenzy.

Example: “$15,000 for a DRESS? Does it have WHEELS? Are you out your MIND? And you gonna spend $600 on a veil to cover yo grill when that could feed an entire grade at the school down the block? What in the HELL is wrong with you? What part of BUDGET don’t you understand? You must be OUT yo GOD-DAMNED MIND!”

The name of my reality pilot (drum roll please …): Say No to the Ho. I have to go now. Pitching this to the cable networks will take time.

Chris Rock – Champagne

Now that I know Tiger Woods is fine, I feel OK posting this.  Honestly, hearing the Tiger Woods news is what made me think of this video.  This is Chris Rock at his finest!  Too funny!

You know, some people say life is short and that you could get hit by a bus at any moment and that you have to live each day like it’s your last. Bullshit. Life is long. You’re probably not gonna get hit by a bus. And you’re gonna have to live with the choices you make for the next fifty years.

- Chris Rock

Via by teresa wu – You know, some people say life is short and that….

Même s’il a l’air super intéressant, pas besoin de voir le documentaire de Chris Rock pour s’apercevoir que désormais, les perruques fleurissent sur les têtes des filles comme des mauvaises herbes entre les dalles d’une terrasse à la campagne.

Qu’elles soient connues (ou non), belles (ou non), adeptes de la frange (ou… bref), les femmes modernes aiment se rajouter sur le crâne des cheveux en poils de cheval ou des mèches d’hindoue domestiquée, pour un résultat plus ou moins réussi (Emilie de Secret Story, si tu nous lis).

Alors au risque de briser vos illusions, mais dans un souci de vous éviter une mauvaise surprise la prochaine fois que vous passerez la main dans la crinière de votre future conquête, voici une sélection de perruques (baptisées “wig” aux Etats-Unis) et de vrais cheveux, mais qu’on aurait aimé voir recouverts d’extensions capillaires synthétiques pour le coup. A vous de reconnaître ce qui est vrai… ou non.

Alors, oui ou wig?

Beyoncé:

Serena Williams:

Somaya Reece (la nouvelle meuf de Joe Budden, qui se fait pas chier l’enfoiré):

Gabby:

Halle Berry et Tyra Banks:

Foxy Brown:

Diana Ross:

Snoop Dogg:

Andre Agassi:

Le cousin gay de T-Pain et Sébastien Folin:

La fille de Kelly Rowland:

At first glance, it would seem that a documentary about something innocuous as women’s hair would make for a trivial and silly viewing experience. While Good Hair does have its fair share of silly moments, Chris Rock manages to add some levity to it, turning it into a sociological study of African-American women, a topic given that’s been given so little attention that it’s a mystery to even African American men.

Rock found himself dumbfounded when one of his two young daughters asked him a simple question: “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” Working with comedian and first-time director Jeff Stilson (a writer and co-producer on HBO’s (The Chris Rock Show), Rock attempts to answer this question with this film, finding that the issue is more common and complex than he had imagined. The struggle for “good hair” isn’t so much a pursuit of beauty as it is a negation of self-perceived ugliness. In our society, natural African-American hair is “nappy” and bad.

Rock begins his journey at the headquarters of Dudley Hair Products, in Greensboro, North Carolina, one of the country’s largest producers of hair relaxer (or, as one of his interviewees calls it, “creamy crack”).  In an all too obvious Supersize Me inspired experiment, he soaks a soda can in a beaker of relaxer to see how long it takes to dissolve.

More telling is a startling discovery Rock makes at a convention. Korean merchants, people who have no genuine use for the products they peddle, control the retail of the black hair market, and would not sale whole sale to African-American merchants. The black hair market is truly a worldwide market. After Rock learns that Indian hair is the most sought after hair, he travels to the Hindu temples of India, unearthing an unlikely source for the hair weave industry. Poor, devout women offer their hair to their priests in a religious ceremony known as tonsure. The hair is then sold for thousands of dollars in the hair weave capital of the world, Los Angeles.

Peppered throughout are talking head interviews featuring a plethora of African-Americans ranging from Raven Simone to Al Sharpton to Maya Angelou. If you’ve ever wondered what the hell is up with Sharpton’s hair, he explains its origins in detail (James Brown is to blame). Because of his disarming affability, Rock is able to coax surprisingly candid stories from the interviewees about such topics as how it is a no-no to touch a black woman’s hair … even during sex.  This candor is the highlight of the film. Rock’s attitude is one of bemused wonder and is never judgmental, letting his subjects speak freely.

The film unfortunately digresses with a gaudy hairstyling contest at the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show, an annual convention on black hair that attracts more than 100,000 hairdressers. Four oddball competitors go to extreme lengths to win the contest, doing everything in their power from employing marching bands to cutting hair upside down and under water. This segment doesn’t have much to say and is just a showcase of eccentric behavior. But when Good Hair is on point, it is as educational as it is humorous

Svensk humor måste verkligen tillhöra världens sämsta. Där är jag garanterad långt ifrån ensam. När det inte handlar om att dra dåliga skämt inbäddade i vulgära meningar och låtsas som att man inte är medveten om att ”det får folk att skratta” (Betnér), så handlar det om att förolämpa personer runt omkring en och/eller skämta på egen bekostnad (tag ”Markoolio” som exempel; ”Jag är fet, haha”).

Jag vet inte riktigt vad det är som gör denna typen av humor uttjatad och tråkig, utöver det faktum att den är fruktansvärt repetitiv, men jag klarar inte av den. Varje söndag går den värdelösa skit som är Parlamentet. Varje söndag med samma patetiska komiker som suttit där under de senaste 5 åren och med samma värdelösa skämt och personangrepp som sagts varje söndag under dessa år. Bevisligen tröttnar inte tittarna. Är det verkligen någon som fortfarande skrattar åt hur Robert Gustafsson harklar sig under sin utslitna sketch som berusad? Är det verkligen någon som uppskattar hur Petra Mede försöker vara kontroversiell genom att ta till samma vulgära skämt som hennes manliga kollegor kört med varje år sedan 90-talet?

Jag har svårt att tro det, även om det skulle vara naivt att ignorera existensen av en publik som uppskattar materialet. Det kommer ju trots allt alltid finnas irriterande 10-åringar som tror att det är förbjudet att svära på tv.

Nu kan det tyckas att ämnet för detta inlägg är taget ur luften, men så är inte fallet. Jag såg drygt 5 minuter av Cirkus Möller på TV4 idag, vilket jag ångrar mer än mitt biobesök till dyngan ”Drag me to hell”. Svensk humor när den är som allra sämst, nästan i klass med det rasistiska skräp som Chris Rock spyr ur sig under en vanlig kväll av standup (vilket, tråkigt nog, alla svenska komiker med utländsk bakgrund har börjat apa efter).

Måns Möller stod på en scen framför en mindre publik (som bidrog med halvhjärtade skratt och applåder) och skrattade åt sina egna skämt. Detta varvades med sketcher beståendes av Möller spelandes mot Möller i stora löständer. Bättre än så tror jag inte att jag kan formulera en beskrivning. Ärligt talat så ser jag inte hur någon kan uppskatta programmet. Som jag nämnde så kan jag med Parlamentet se hur en viss målgrupp kan uppskatta skiten, detta kan jag inte säga om Cirkus Möller. Det är bara skräp. Värdelöst jävla skräp – i brist på andra adjektiv. Det enda logiska vore att programmet lades ned för att aldrig mer ta upp värdefull tid som kunde spenderas bättre än 25 minuter reklam. Detsamma kan sägas om den pinsamma soppa som var Roast på Berns.

Nej, släng Schyffert, Dorsin, Gustafsson, Mede, Betnér och all annan svensk skit ned i ett dike. Faktum är att det endast finns två personer i Sverige som kan klassas som riktiga komiker. Två personer som gång på gång får mig att skratta på grund av ren idioti och välutvecklade skämt. Dessa är Mona Sahlin och Lars Ohly, tråkigt att de inte vet om det.

Nu skall resten av fredagen spenderas på att se en riktigt bra film, i och med att den värdelösa skitfilm som är V för Vendetta tar upp all programtid på TV6. Tills nästa uppdatering kan du nöja dig åt riktig humor från en av Sveriges tidigare komiker (han sysslar inte med standup längre).

Ha det tills vidare!

Col passare degli anni ho sviluppato degli interrogativi riguardo l””autore” satirico Daniele Luttazzi:

A – Come fa un comico italiano – nonostante la palese e dichiarata derivazione stilistica-performativa da Allen, Letterman e altri -  a partorire tante geniali battute di chiaro stampo anglosassone, dimostrando una padronanza di umorismo d’oltreoceano più unica che rara, che presuppone anche un background culturale di quel genere? è possibile fare questo attraverso il semplice studio e l’assimilazione?

B – Come fa un simile genio dell’umorismo e della dissacrazione ad avere delle cadute imbarazzanti tipo questa e questa, o a farsi protagonista di gesti al limite della marchetta e politicamente corretto televisivo (vedi applauso alle forze dell’ordine in sala)?

C – Perché un uomo di quella immensa capacità creativa dovrebbe, specie nelle interviste, ripetere sempre, ossessivamente,  gli stessi concetti, le stesse formule, le stesse colte citazioni, come un computer programmato, non lasciando  (nemmeno negli spettacoli) il benché minimo spazio all’improvvisazione, cosa non riscontrabile, per quanto mi riguarda, in nessun altro comico?

D – Perché specula sui suoi monologhi ripetendo all’infinito gli stessi 3 in tour non certo economici senza inventare nulla di nuovo da anni a questa parte?

E – Perché appare così maledettamente “ragioniere”, più che “artista”? perché si erge a giudice supremo ed autorità pedante in fatto di satira arrivando persino ad istituire una “palestra” o corso di battuta ( “chi non sa fare insegna…” (cit.))sul suo sito…ce lo vedete, voi, Guzzanti, o il defunto Bill Hicks a fare da professorini della satira su internet? io no.

F – Come un satirico tanto “libero” nei contenuti può dimostrare di avere una visione socio-politica così “partigiana”, schierata e spesso unilaterale,  tanto che più di quella di un  satirico, sembra quella di un parlamentare?

G – Dove, concludendo,  un robot della dialettica come lui, erudito ma rigido nelle sue convinzioni, spesso infantile e ottusamente ripetitivo, troverebbe quell’incredibile ed originale guizzo creativo che l’ha reso celebre ed ammirato da tutti noi?

Beh, la risposta un po’ l’avevo intuita da solo, ed è la più semplice fra quelle che possano venire in mente, per quanto sbalorditiva: Luttazzi non è un genio della stira ; Luttazzi è un genio del copiato.

Questo sito me ne ha dato atroce conferma fornendomi spunti per approfondire ulteriormente in maniera autonoma. Praticamente, 3/4 delle battute (spesso intere sezioni di monologhi!) che hanno reso celebri il nostro, appartengono a comici americani, tradotte e copiate pari pari e recitate a pagamento o inserite in libri, sempre a pagamento. Come una cover band dei Rolling Stones che si facesse pagare  i concerti 40 euro a biglietto.

Provare per credere.

]]> http://fonksayuk.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/e-o-funk/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:45:31 +0000 fonkilicious http://fonksayuk.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/e-o-funk/ http://soulsistahsade.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/black-power-media-got-that-good-hair/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:51:47 +0000 soulsistahsade http://soulsistahsade.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/black-power-media-got-that-good-hair/

Sons of Malcolm commentary on Chris Rock’s “Good Hair” and more importantly, the launch of blackpowermedia.com. the place to go for all of your revolutionary needs. check it out yall.

 My hair has been the bane of my existence for as long as I can remember.  I’ve colored it, curled it, crimped it, moussed it and still it has the same straggly fine quality as Richie Sambora’s with Heather Locklear’s infamous roots.  Stunning, really.

 My mom had super thin hair that she enhanced by teasing it and wearing hair pieces.  At night she would pin the hair pieces to styrofoam heads in our bathroom and set them in rollers.  If you had to pee in the middle of the night, it was always scary to flip on the lights and see those heads.  She used to joke that she married my dad who has thick, wavy hair so that her daughter would have better hair than she did.  And I do, but that’s not saying much. 

 The thing is, it’s not just me, no one likes their own hair.

 Just last month, Chris Rock put out that documentary, Good Hair, about all the painful, awful things African American women do to their hair.  He said he made the film because his daughter asked him “why don’t I have good hair?” and he was appalled that a child would feel that way.

 I have a friend who is of Korean decent with really silky smooth hair and she recently got a perm.  She looks totally cute with the perm (it’s more like a body wave, kind of like the sexy waves that Lauren the med student/hooker on the new Melrose flaunts – not a big 80s perm) but her husband hates it because perms make your hair sort of “crunchy” and he’s used to her soft, shiny natural hair.   Why mess with hair that already looked great?  Because we all want what we don’t have.

She spends all day in the hospital and all night as a hooker and her hair still looks like this?

Mac’s little friend, Kate, has the most gorgeous head of blonde curls you’ve ever seen in your life.  She’s like a little angel.  And all the boys love her.  I mean for real love her.  According to his mom, who is a trusted source, one of Mac’s little buddies spent his time on the toilet today, talking about how one day he and his true love Kate will get married and have a son named Ben.  What kind of four year old boy thinks about that while taking a crap?  And what kind of startling four year old beauty inspires such a thing? Obviously, her curls are something special.  But at 4, she has already mentioned to her mom that she wishes she had straight hair.  Kate – we all want your hair!   And it’s sure to drive Mac and his bud to Brandon and Dylan like frenemy status at some point.  Embrace it! 

There’s an episode in the ninth or tenth season of Beverly Hills 90210, when Donna’s vixen cousin, Gina Kincaid, is toying with David Silver and Donna asks him “what is it about her?  It’s the hair, right?”  I loved that because I spent entire episodes staring at Vanessa Marcil and wondering how I could make my hair look like hers. 

She's lucky her great hair is such a distraction from her hideous face and body.

The funny part about my mom and her obsession with hair goes back to how she thought she’d get me good hair by marrying a man with great hair. There is no question that my dad still has an impressive head of hair.  I wish I’d gotten that instead of the eczema and the bad temper, but genetics is a lottery and you don’t always win.  However, while his hair is great, he’s known for it because he used to have what we called “wings” on the side.  White patches in the shapes of triangles above each ear.  People I didn’t know would see my dad out and be like “Molly, I saw Wings last night”.  The wings were infamous.  And totally awesome.

No, that's not my dad, but you get the point.

A few years back a girlfriend convinced him to lose the wings and he started coloring over them.  Everyone who knew him during the wings era misses them.  Letting a woman tell you what to do with your hair is a big mistake.  Just ask Samson. 

Earlier this week I complained about my hair in front of Mac and he gave me the biggest compliment a four year old boy can give by saying that I have “long princess hair”.  The rest of the day I felt so pretty.  Then I remembered that when I was a small child I thought Julie Hagerty in the Airplane! movies had the most beautiful hair in the world.  And I quickly made an appointment to get mine cut. 

Me and Robert Hays loved us some Hagerty Hair

J’aime bien Chris Rock. Il me fait rire. Et quand je tombe sur “Everybody Hates Chris” à la télé, généralement, je reste bloquée dessus. Je sais pas si c’est pour le décors Brooklyn des années 80, pour ses histoires rocambolesques ou sa voix atypique ; mais il m’est fort sympathique ce jeune homme. Il vient de sortir “Good Hair” un documentaire sur un sujet auquel j’ai jamais osé m’intéresser parce que ça a l’air un peu tabou… Les cheveux des Afro-américaines. Verdict ? Et ben ça m’a bien fait rire et j’ai grave appris. Enfin, il m’a appris ce qu’il a bien voulu nous montrer, à savoir une petite partie de l’afro-iceberg. Maintenant, je sais que Beyoncé a de faux cheveux (longtemps, j’en ai douté), et qu’une extension, made in India chez la coiffeuse de mon quartier, coûte un bras.  Décryptage.

Pour aller voir “Good Hair”, faut être motivé. Après 3 semaines, il ne passe plus que dans une seule salle à Manhattan. Pas bon signe. Pourtant dès que j’ai vu la bande-annonce, je me suis dis que ce film était fait pour moi. Pour Chris Rock, certes, mais aussi pour le sujet ; dans le fond ça m’intrigue. A Brooklyn, les business qui marchent le mieux sont les ongles et les cheveux. Les barbershop et salons de coiffures sont tout le temps blindés. Ici, le « Parce que je le vaut bien » est pris à la lettre : le cheveu est une institution.

Alors qu’est ce qui se cache derrière la crinière de ces dames ? Bah pleins de choses… À commencer par des cheveux d’Indiennes. Même si “Envoyé Spécial” a déjà dû traiter le sujet, Chris nous révèle que c’est l’un des business les plus lucratifs du pays. De nombreux fidèles sacrifient leurs cheveux et les donnent au temple du coin, qui les lave, les trie, les vend, puis les exporte. Et ces extensions, (weaves) s’achètent à prix d’or. A base de 1000 doll le truc. Dans le docu, les coiffeuses racontent que des nanas préfèrent avoir leurs cheveux faits plutôt que de payer leur loyer. Côté barbershop, certains mecs avouent devant la caméra avoir renoncé à sortir avec des meufs parce qu’ils savaient qu’ils ne pourraient pas assumer financièrement leurs faux cheveux. (Sourcil gauche levé. Quoi ?) D’autres racontent qu’ils n’ont jamais pu toucher les cheveux de leurs femmes. (Really?) D’autres enfin murmurent préférer les “Blanches” pour ça. Aller hop, on peut lui toucher la chevelure et ça coûte un Fructis par mois ! Bingo. Moi j’suis épatée de voir que les cheveux influencent les rapports humains entre hommes et femmes Afro-américains à ce point !

Pour traiter le sujet, Chris fait aussi appel à ses potos du milieu pour avoir quelques témoignages croustillants. Ice-T m’apprend qu’à une époque, avoir des bigoudis dans les cheveux, c’était gangsta. Les Salt-n-Pepa se souviennent d’une brûlure chimique due au défrisant : l’une d’elle avait du se raser un côté de la tête. (Remember le clip “Push It”, bah c’était pas pour le style, c’était pour rattraper les pots cassés !)
Le Révérend Al Sharpton, adepte du défrisage nous confie que sa femme non plus n’a pas le droit de lui toucher les cheveux ! C’est genre un truc tabou dans les couples. On en apprend des belles, et le casting fera plaisir à certains messieurs… On y voit Nia Long (qui jouait Lisa, la meuf du Prince de Bel Air) Raven Symone (“Raven”) et autres beautés un peu fatiguées tout droit tirées des clips RnB sexy des années 90. Ah oui, et Maya Angelou aussi, dans un autre genre.

Ce qui est un peu triste, c’est que même si ce marché engendre des milliards de dollars, ce n’est pas DU TOUT la communauté Afro-américaine qui en profite. A part les coiffeuses qui sont des superstars locales, le reste du business est tenu par des l’Oréal et autres compagnies Européennes et Asiatiques. Grosse carotte. Quant à la moralité du film ? Grosso modo, ça dit que ce qu’il y a au-dessus de la tête n’est pas aussi important que ce q’il y a à l’intérieur. Ok. Mais je ne comprends pas pourquoi dans ces cas-là, il n’a pas donné la parole à des femmes qui assument leurs cheveux au naturel, afro, dread ou crâne rasé, cheveux courts ou brushés. Ou même à des hommes qui aiment ça, les cheveux naturels. C’est comme s’il critiquait sans apporter d’alternative, alors qu’il y en a ! “Tu es Noire donc tu auras de faux cheveux” ! Euh… non ! Ma pote, (Afro-américaine aux cheveux naturels) qui a vu le film s’est sentie roulée. J’la comprends. En plus y’avait pas beaucoup de Renois dans la salle. J’imagine que c’étaient surtout des novices comme moi, qui allaient gober tout ce qu’on leur servait. Au final ils auront cette image des femmes Afro-américaine aux cheveux d’Indiennes qui défrisent la chevelure de leur fille de 3 ans à coup d’acide et cherche un homme riche pour les entretenir parce que manger ou être belle, il faut choisir. Un peu limité quand même. Mais Chris Rock dit ça avec humour. Donc ça passe mieux…

“Good Hair” c’est pourtant un film à voir. J’suis pas sûre que ça s’exporte bien à l’étranger parce que c’est un phénomène supra cainri, mais ça répondra à pas mal de tes questions sur le mystère des cheveux des Afro-américaines. Entre autres tes interrogations d’ado, quand tu es sorti avec LaQuisha en échange culturel à Washington et qu’elle ne voulait pas que tu lui touches les cheveux. Tu croyais que c’était à cause de tes mains moites. Bah non… Elle voulait juste pas que tu défonces sa coupe à 1000 E !

India.Arie I Am Not My Hair

I was a young teenager when Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider and Chris Rock were all on Saturday Night Live together in the early- to mid-90’s. I grew an affection for Sandler via his performance in “Happy Gilmore” and for Spade in “Tommy Boy”. I caught the Chris Rock train once I saw his stand-up work. And then there’s Rob Schneider, who’s been fine in more toned-down roles, but hasn’t had one since he started riding Sandler’s coattails in the ingratiating “The Waterboy”.

Sandler has racked up a score of mostly misses rather than hits with me, but I think he can be great with the right material. It’s when he tries to introduce characters that he and his close friends apparently find especially funny that he more often than not sinks my interest. “Grown Ups” immediately has the fact that there will be no wacky-voiced Sandler going for it. Schneider, on the other hand, looks dead on arrival with the stupid haircut and unfunny joke about having an old wife. While Spade’s television work has been fairly inoffensive, theatrically, he lost me at “Joe Dirt”.

The movie is being sold as a return to form for some comedic veterans who have split from SNL and built careers out of being immature. It could work, especially with Rock in the cast, who’s almost always funny. Unfortunately, I didn’t laugh at a single joke in the trailer. Kevin James looks to be on hand for some physical comedy that Chris Farley would have performed a hundred times better, had he survived to see this film. It’s kind of neat to see the old gang come together, but the paths these actors have taken to get to “Grown Ups” certainly don’t guarantee that it will be anything greater than the sum of its parts.

I admit it. Last month, I lightened my hair. I thought it would even out the uneven, outgrown highlights from last year and cover some of the gray that’s beginning to make the top of my head resemble the Sno-Caps Candy that I used to enjoy at the movies (ok, still enjoy. I have a box in my suitcase. I’ll never grow up).

The dye job was a disaster. The stuff smelled to high heaven, made my scalp itchy and it destroyed the bathroom rug. When I finally rinsed the chemicals out, I saw that my hair was a queer off-reddish amalgam that still featured a glorious mixture of sno-cap gray and overgrown high-lights. Pretty bad. I couldn’t go to India looking like this, and really, I don’t want to wind up hating my hair so much that I would wind up getting it all shaved off at the Balaji temple. I’ve seen the results. It’s not pretty. Check out Chris Rock’s movie, “Bad Hair” to find out where all that donated-to-God hair goes. Not pretty either.

At the same time, my little silly mind thought back to the times in India where I stood out like a strange swamp creature due to my lighter brown hair and the color of my skin. I decided to go back to the Walgreen’s and purchase Asian black hair color.

The morning I was to leave for India, I applied the stuff.  Once dried, only my sister noticed that my curls had radically changed in shade, so I thought I was home free, and very very smart for making the change.

Well, fine readers, I’m looking at myself right now as I type. There is an unfortunately-placed mirror over the desk at the hotel, and I can unequivocally report that I look like a can of paste has been deposited on my face because what seems like a bottle of shiny midnight-kohl shoe polish has taken over my locks. This was a really dumb move. Balaji is sounding better by the moment…  Must… have…. restraint.

>>>That is what many people say about the world of work – that the lighter your skin, the higher status you look to possess, especially among African American bosses.  Therefore, you would win more jobs than darker-skinned individuals in the same applicant pool. What do you think?  Let us know in the COMMENTS section.

This  may not be true in your own experience, but it is certain for some others among us, depending on our community makeup and cultures. Chris Rock  recently did an excellent job of filming a documentary about hair and skin color that explains the phenomena  of colors and textures in skin and hair his hit film GOOD HAIR.

See my review and some relevant observations at:

Light Skin and Good Hair 

Christopher Julius Rock III (n. 7 de febrero de 1965) es un cómico, actor y director de cine estadounidense, ganador de un Emmy y un Grammy. Ha sido descrito por Comedy Central como el quinto mejor cómico monologuista de todos los tiempos.

http://rapidshare.com/files/266093993/Chris_Rock_-_Never_Scared.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/266060603/Chris_Rock_-_Never_Scared.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/266072571/Chris_Rock_-_Never_Scared.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/266080264/Chris_Rock_-_Never_Scared.part4.rar

By: Arti Patel

“Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?”

This was the question that inspired actor Chris Rock to release the documentary Good Hair. The documentary takes a deeper look into the hair product industry aimed at African-American women and how these woman are constantly being pressured to have “good hair.”

Rock interviews major industry women including artist Eve, actress Raven and Nia Long. While all women have different reasons for their personal haircare, Rock strives to answer the tougher questions as to why women spend thousands of dollars for hair pieces and what are the bigger costs behind that hair.

Image provided by www.boston.com

“Creamy-crack” for sale

The first part of the film breaks into the relaxer industry and its origin. The main ingredient of a relaxer is sodium hydroxide and Rock experiments to find out exactly what damage a relaxer can cause. He visits a scientist who has three cans of pop dipped in sodium hydroxide. After four hours, the can is almost gone, as Rock tries to show exactly why so many African-American women and men feel “the burn of the perm.”

For young girls, the burn may just hurt more. Rock finds hair stylists and mothers who have their young daughters have perms as early as the age of three. This process would not only help young girls fit in among “other hair styles” but also normalize the motto that, “everyone is supposed to have a perm.”

Diamonds better watch out, there’s a new friend in town

Rock puts his money where his mouth is. He introduces the weave industry or the “graduation of the wig,” which makes millions of dollars every year alone in the United States. Just one piece of weave can have a price tag from anywhere from $1000 to even $5000.

For these weave-wearing women, Rock’s interviewees describe this as a social movement. At a time, having weave was almost a secret. It was most seen when “white women would ask black women how their hair grew so long overnight.” Today, it’s nothing in that nature. Women talk to one another, share their dealers and stylists and always ask one another that one question: “Where did you get your weave?”

India’s hair market

But where does this weave hair actually come from?

Human hair is India’s largest export, but their is a spiritual path Indian women take to shave their heads. The process of sacrificing one’s hair to God is called tonsuring and 85 per cent of both men and women in India have had their heads shaved for religious reasons. A journey that may be seen as a way to get closer to religion and God is cut short as sacrificed hair becomes shipped to Los Angles to become a profit.

There is both the manufacturing companies that collect, groom and export human hair and then there is the black market in India, where women are victims to this idea that gold equals hair. Rock interviews a man who is involved in hair-selling black market and asks him how he collects hair. Cutting a woman’s hair while she sleeps or watches a movie is the most popular. The “I Am Legend to I Am Bald” notion is more valuable for the industry and woman are being “scalped” for their hair, not even knowing which celebrity wears it next.

Ugly truth about the beauty industry

The hair business is a cut throat one. Good Hair both educates and pokes fun at an industry that so many people sweep away.  When he is not comparing the burning sensation of a relaxer to giving birth or getting shot in the face, Rock wants his audience to know that ”good hair can put you in the poor house and if you’re not careful, it can burn down your house.”

Tras de la muerte del entrenador del equipo al que pertenecieron de niños, un grupo de hombres maduros se reunen tras de años, para descubrir que muchas cosas no han cambiado. Grown Ups es la nueva comedia de Adam Sandler, que vuelve a la fórmula de los gags fáciles con historias fácilmente predecibles, tras de haber experimentado con otro tipo de historias. Puede ser una buena elección para ver con los amigos, aunque no esperemos nada realmente novedoso.

Just found this on You Tube, its the new trailer for the film “The Grown-Ups” which stars 5 of the top comedy actors:

Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade and Rob Schineder are the most bankable stars in Hollywood today… Well Adam Sandler and Chris Rock are, the others are coming into their groove.. but I ask the question, does this mean we will see more dream team films?? there is The Expendables coming with Sly Stallone, Jason Stathma, Jet Li and Dolph “where has my career gone” Lundgren.

I wonder what othe dream team films will they come up with….
Dame Judi Dench, Sophie Loren, Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton in Calendar Girls 2: They cook, they clean they bikini wax….
Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Chevy Chase and Martin Short in The 5 Amigos: we need the work…

-Ash

This sounds like a comedy version of The Big Chill, but with no Kevin Costner as the corpse and no Jeff Goldblum.

Five friends and former teammates reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. With their wives and kids in tow, they spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend together at the lake house where they celebrated their championship years earlier. Picking up where they left off, they discover why growing older doesn’t mean growing up.

If you like Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Kevin James and Rob Schneider then you’ll probably enjoy it. I don’t mind a bit of the Sandler so I’ll watch it, but I’m not expecting greatness. Plus we all know Kevin James is filling in the fat man in a small coat gap left by Chris Farley.

Directed by Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan)

Is it going to be comedy gold or a big fat nothing?