The Importance of The Horror Hottie


One thing that Horror flicks manage to do (for the most part), aside from giving us a good scare or two (again, for the most part), is fill the screen with some hot chicks. They are as important to a horror movie as is the blood and carnage, and that's saying a lot; I mean, who are we supposed to root for if not the sweet cute girl that doesn't deserve whats happening to her? And who is better to cheer upon their death than the proverbial bitch that has it coming to her?

See what I'm saying?

We get the bad girls: smoking, drinking, having sex... We all want to date her (guys, that is), but we know she's poison. Sweet, tasty poison.

We get the virginal sweet girls: usually the last ones alive... We'd bring her home to mom, take her to the prom, and go home and rub one out when she denies us getting to second base. Sigh.

Sometimes we even get the hot evil chicks, which may be the best of them all... but we love them despite their type, don't we?


Cute, slutty, naked (Preferably naked), sassy, deranged, slutty, naked, vulnerable, strong willed, slutty, naked... They inspire us in many ways. I'm not mentioning some of those ways here, especially the ones that involve mashed potatoes and a hairbrush. (I heard about that on the internet. Honest.)

Any way you slice it, we need them in our movies, no matter what role they're playing. So celebrate them with us, because we like pictures of hot chicks.

Old School Friday: Diana Ross


The theme for this week's Old School Friday meme is 'Motown'.

Motown was a remarkable music factory from 1959 thru 1972. In fact, there is a Motown Museum located on the same block that Berry Gordy led a music revolution.

I started to go with The Temptations as my music selection (My Girl and Ball of Confusion). However, in the end, I decided to go with Diana Ross singing in tribute to Marvin Gaye. Enjoy!




John McCain Sells Out to Big Oil


I notice that John McCain is becoming a one-note candidate with his constant rants in support of the Big Oil companies. Standing before a room of oil company executives in June, John McCain flip-flopped and declared support for coastal oil drilling. Now the Washington Post is reporting that, within days, oil and gas execs ponied up nearly $1 million to elect McCain.

When people think of Bush, they think "oil," but that's not true of McCain yet—even though his energy policy is almost identical to Bush's and his campaign is literally run by oil lobbyists! Check out this video for details:



What say u?

New AfroSpear Member: Vibrant Life


The AfroSpear continues to gain momentum. I'm proud to introduce our newest member ... Ruth Ferguson. Ruth created her blog, Vibrant Life (BBR #691), on 1/1/2008.

In her application she wrote, "I discovered AfroSpear earlier this year and consider it a wonderful resource for the diverse African descent voices across the Internet. The group has demostrated has been key in keeping some issues on the forefront such as the Jena 6 situation, pushing even MSM to take notice and view members as key resources. Delighted to learn a Black News Network is being formed by Comcast & Jessie Watts, however for me and many others AfroSpear already serves as THE online Black News Network."

When asked how her blog can support The AfroSpear, Ruth wrote, "While not as eloquent as many invovled, I certainly have a perspective on topics of the day. Initially my agenda was going to be on a broad range of subjects. However like the rest of the country, the 2008 Presidential race moved to the primary topic of discussion. Sometimes my blog serves as more of a conduit to other articles of interest I read. Regarding being vouched for by others - Shawn Williams of DallasSouthBlog.com can vouch for me. In fact, I am slated to be a guest blogger on DSB and I have also joined Bloggers 4 Barack that he co-launched."

Join me in welcoming Ruth Ferguson to crew of progressive Black bloggers known as The AfroSpear!

Scott Nugent, Taser-Killer Cop Fired and Facing Murder Charges

Seeking to defuse growing racial tensions in the small Louisiana town of Winnfield, the local district attorney announced Monday that he will seek an indictment against a white police officer for the death of a Black man who was shocked nine times with a Taser device while handcuffed in police custody.

Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils said he would convene a grand jury Aug. 12 to consider possible charges against the officer, Scott Nugent, 21, who was fired from the Winnfield Police Department following the death of Baron "Scooter" Pikes.

Pikes, 21, died Jan. 17 within 39 minutes of being arrested on a drug possession warrant. His death has been ruled a homicide.

In his own written report of the Pikes' incident, Nugent acknowledged that he had subdued and handcuffed Pikes after a foot chase and that Pikes had not struggled or resisted arrest. Instead, Nugent wrote, he began tasering Pikes after the suspect did not respond quickly enough to Nugent's order to stand up and walk to a waiting police car.

Witnesses reported that Pikes had pleaded with Nugent and two other arresting officers to stop tasering him.

Click here to read the full story from Howard Witt.

Isabel Garcia Mocked in Hateful & Racist Manner by Tuscon Radio Station


Drumbeats from All About Race introduced us to Isabel Garcia heads up the Public Defender's office in Tucson AZ. She is a talented lawyer working to provide quality legal representation to those who could not otherwise afford it.

Apparently, she threatens the manhood of white conservatives in Arizona. One of them is Jon Justice who works for local radio station. Justice filmed a "webisode" of his show where he caressed and fondled a piñata intended to be the likeness of Isabel Garcia.





I'm pleased to see that the Latino community organized quickly to contact radio station advertisers and local Pima County officials to express their displeasure. The immediate reaction from this community is an object lesson for Black activists when we next have to deal with racism and hatred in our community!

I encourage all villagers to take any steps possible to end the racism and hate whenever it rears its ugly head!

A Day of Blogging for Justice - Against Extra-Judicial Electrocution (Tasers)


We update villagers on the overactive use of tasers by the police regularly. I am grateful to see that the Afrosphere Action Coalition called for a formal Day of Blogging Justice on this topic. The police appear to be ignoring their own policy as laid out in the Use of Force Continuum. Police killed five people with tasers in January 2008 alone!

Powerful voices in the afrosphere are talking about this topic here, here, here, here and here. I urge you to join in the discussions as well.

Here are samples of stories that we reported to you in the past:

Are we being too sensitive? Should we sweep our concerns under the carpet because the police are reasonable people doing a difficult job? Or should we continue to blog for justice whenever we see inappropriate use of tasers to executive our brothers and sisters before they get their day in court?

What say u?

C.Y.P. Daily #6

C.Y.P. (Crap Your Pants) Daily presents the following creepy bit:



You're going inside, right?

Perp Walk: Sharpe James

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James is heading to jail for the next 27 months as a result of his corruption conviction regarding sales of city land to a former mistress. He was also ordered James to pay a $100,000 fine.

Federal prosecutors were seeking up to 20 years for James, but the judge last week said such a long sentence was not warranted. Lawyers for the 72-year-old former mayor sought probation for James.

He led New Jersey's largest city for 20 years and was a Democratic state senator. Instead of being a remembered as a great politician and civic leader ... he will be known for taking the 'perp walk' straight to jail.

New AfroSpear Member: Raw Dawg Buffalo

We are proud to announce a new member into The AfroSpear. Our newest member is Torrance Stephens who created his blog, Raw Dawg Buffalo (BBR #22), on 10/9/2005. The passion that Torrance placed into publication of his novels over the years is on display in his blog.

Bro. Stephens is known for brevity in his comments. When asked how he saw the purpose of the AfroSpear, Torrance answered, "scholarship".

When asked how his blog would support that purpose, he said, "intellectual diversity".

Please join us in welcoming All-Mi-T into The AfroSpear family!

Legislative Record of Barack Obama


UPDATE: Joe Scarborough is mocking Barack Obama on his morning show today. He keeps asking 'What has Obama done?' Hillary asked the same question and we see how that worked for her. Anyhow, I thought it would be good to reprise this message originally posted in Feb 2008.

Team Clinton theme since they lost the Potomac Primaries is to denigrate Barack Obama as a candidate with "speeches, not solutions". The basic theme is that he is a brother that is articulate and speaks well ... (dayum, I hate when white folks give that particular praise) ... but, no action to back it up. They call Obama a 'hope-monger' (NOTE: doesn't that seem better than being a 'hate-monger'?)

We received drumbeats From My Brown-Eyed View with some telling information on the legislative record of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Lady Deborah noted that during the first eight (8) years of Obama's elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. These included:
  • 233 regarding healthcare reform
  • 125 on poverty and public assistance
  • 112 crime fighting bills
  • 97 economic bills
  • 60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills
  • 21 ethics reform bills
  • 15 gun control
  • 6 veterans affairs
His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included:
  • The Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006
  • The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act
  • The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act
  • The 2007 Government Ethics Bill
  • The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill

So, let's add it up ... since entering the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096. This seems like an impressive record. Of course, it's so much easier to denigrate the brother for being 'All hat and no cattle than to simply look up his legislative record.

In my view, Obama is a doer and a talker and a motivator. In my view, he is just what our nation needs to follow the bumbling, stumbling, inarticulate presidency of George W. Bush. What say u?

Solo Review- Battle Royale (2000)


Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru)
Sub-Genre- J-Horror

In Attendance- Moi

Cast Members of Note- Go-go Yubari from Kill Bill is in this!

What's it about?- A Japanese Junior High class gets to go on a field trip... Granted, most field trips involve the zoo, or a trip to the local prison to do "Dances" for the inmates (I'm still sore from my 8th grade trip), but this one is way more fun than that; they get to kill each other!

"Aloha my ass... You owe me a rubdown bitch!"

Luckily, Mr Rourke let's them use Fantasy island to host their crazy little roustabout, although Tattoo isn't too happy about it. You see, Mr. Rourke promised him a week alone together on the island, filled with back rubs and candy canes... and with all of that thrown out the window in favor of kid on kid murder, he's a sad little midget. One of the kids kills him with a cheese grater right out of the gate anyways, so no worries.

With the half-man out of the way, the kids proceed to off each other in various ways; Karate, machine guns, barbed wire toothbrushes... one of them even gets the pleasure of using the most dangerous weapon of all... an electrified rag-doll!

"You want hug Zappy, mister?"

I wont ruin the ending here, but suffice it to say that no one makes it back on the bus.

The Good- What a wicked little movie! The concept of junior high kids killing other kids in order to win their own freedom is a pretty strong meditation on society and where it seems sometimes that were headed. It's also a pretty cool premise for a movie.

I just really liked this picture.

I expected this one to be much more uncomfortable to watch than it was; don't get me wrong, it was disturbing, but it wasn't over the top nor offensive. I know the term classy seems out of place when discussing most horror, and especially a film with a premise like this one, but it fits.

This quote from the director pretty much sums up the message of the film: "He described the end message in the film, "Run", as his advice to the next generation."

The Bad- Seriously? Lego toys?

Rego.

The Downright Horrendous- They're planning a U.S. remake... what a surprise. If there is a god, he won't let it happen.

The Gory- There is plenty of brutality on display here, and even though most of it is on the psychological level, there is plenty of the crimson glory on display to satisfy most horror fans.


The Naked- None of the dirty stuff here.

Best Line- "If I survive, can I go home?"... "Yes, but only if everyone else is dead."

What did we learn?- Listen to your teacher!

"Who else didn't do their homework? Huh? HUH?!?"

Rating- A This is what Horror should be... Smart, disturbing and thought provoking. I recommend owning this one for sure.

Final Thoughts- Go-Go is in this!

"Go-Go! No, I mean it... go. You're scaring me."

Blogging While Brown Conference Keynoters

Angela Conyers-Benton and Markus Robinson gave the technology keynote address at the 1st annual Blogging While Brown Conference held in Atlanta earlier this month. The title of their presentation was 'The Ultimate Blog Experience' gave a good idea of the contents of their presentation.

Angela and Markus shared information neccessary to publish a top blog with specific traffic building strategie. Angela and Markus showed us how to beautify design, use widgets to your advantage, and develop engaging content.

The Black Web 2.0 creators share their thoughts in the following video:




Black Web 2.0 at Blogging While Brown Key Note Wrap Up from blackweb20 on Vimeo.

Blogging While Brown Conference Interviews

Kudos to Deborah Jones (D. Jones Productions) for taking time to interview some of the sponsors, panelists and participants at the 2008 Blogging While Brown Conference held in Atlanta earlier this month!



BWB Conference Interviews from Gina McCauley on Vimeo.

Blogging While Brown Conference is Huge Success


'Villagers', I gotta tell you that the Blogging While Brown conference that I attended over the past weekend was an unqualified success!

This event was truly momentus event for Black bloggers. The attendance was greater than expected with the polticians from the Republican and Libertarian party ... the corporate sponsors ... the three blogging ad networks ... ColorOfChange executive flying in from the Bay Area ... and a number of brothers and sisters who came because they are interested in starting a blog.

I anticipate that 5-6 new Black bloggers will spring up in the next week or so as a direct result of this BWB Conference.

I met brothers and sisters from California, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts, Washington DC, New York, Georgia, Washington (state) and Connecticut.

Many others took advantage of the live streaming provided by Theo Johnson on Ustream.tv and more received onsite feedback via Twitter and live blogging posting.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the event was the number of powerful Bloggers at the top of the Black Blog Rankings who took time out of their schedule to attend in person. These powerful blogs included: Pam's House Blend (BBR #1), Necole Bitchie (#16), What About Our Daugthers (#17), Clutch Magazine (#25) and Electronic Village (#26).

The conference was held at the largest convention center in Georgia (the Georgia World Congress Center) and the hotel accomodations were outstanding ... Hilton Atlanta Downtown. The conference registrants were treated with respect with 'goodie bags' containing SWAG from conference sponsors and complimentary meals and complimentary transportation from hotel to the conference.

I can't wait to get that photo of the conference registrants ... it will be something that I cherish ... knowing that I had a part in the 1st ever international conference for, by and about bloggers of color. I've already seen benefits ... Saturday traffic to my blog was much higher than normal ... and the number of new Twitter followers that I rec'd yesterday blew me away!

Anyhow, I give nothing but props to Gina McCauley and the sponsors that made the event possible. I appreciate those AfroSpear members who were able to make it ... as well as those that supported the effort in a variety of ways. Suffice to say I look forward to being an early registrant for the 2nd annual Blogging While Brown effort.

You can see other perspectives in the BWB Facebook group! Now that the event is over ... what are your thoughts about it?

Bridges: Build, Cross or Burn?

One of the highlights of the Blogging While Brown conference was panel discussion entitled, 'Bridges: Build, Cross or Burn? Can New Media Work With the Old Guard and Old Media?'.


The panel was moderated by Kevin Ross (3 Brothers and A SISTER). Panel members included Gina McCauley (What About Our Daughters), Clarissa Goodlett (ColorOfChange), Tamera Reynolds (GlamMedia) and Necole Bitchie (NicoleBitchie.com).

The premise of the panel discussion was that there may be some friction between the new media and the traditional media. However, the true friction appeared to be between Black bloggers that want to monetize their blogs versus those that thought any movement toward monetization was a mortal sin for Black bloggers.

Sis. Reynolds is a director of the African American Network at GlamMedia. She shared some insights from the perspective of an ad network business. My learning from her was that GlamMedia was more than fashion. She pointed out to us a soon-to-be announced Blacklife section of GlamMedia.

However, the highlight of the session for me was Necole Bitchie. She is one of the few Black bloggers in the nation able to blog fulltime. In fact, the young college graduate shared with us that she signed an agreement with Gorilla Nation earlier this month. I first learned about Necole in Jan 2008 with her debut on the Black Blog Rankings at BBR #124. She became one of the hottest bloggers in America and today NecoleBitchie.com is BBR #16.

Theo Johnson (Now That's What I'm Talking About) live streamed the workshop ... so it is available for your review here.

Many Black bloggers are going to have difficult making any serious money with a blog. We need to focus on growing a loyal readership based on our consistent, high-quality blog posts first. Do you have any thoughts on this subject?


Am I Not Human? Lopez Lomong Makes Olympics Team

UPDATE: Lomong Will Carry US Flag at the Olympics!

The Electronic Village participates in the 'Am I Not Human?' blogging campaign on the 27th of each month. Our goal is to raise awareness necessary to eliminate human rights abuses in Darfur, Haiti, Tibet and elsewhere.
Joseph Lopepe "Lopez" Lomong is a Sudanese native who fulfilled his dream when he qualified for the U.S. Olympic track team.

He finished third in 1,500-meter race at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. The top three finishers in the event earn Olympic berths. He made the U.S. team on his first anniversary as a United States citizen.

Lomong fled Sudan and spent 10 years in a refugee camp. He left the camp in 2001 and found a home and a family on Otisco Lake. He's one of six Sudanese boys who were taken in by Robert and Barbara Rogers.

When he became a citizen last July, Lomong said he wanted to represent the U.S. at the Olympics to show appreciation for the country that offered him a chance to start a new life.

His track career earned him a contract with Nike. Last year, he won the 1,500 meters -- almost a mile -- at the NCAA track and field competition, representing Northern Arizona University. He took time off from college to train for the Olympics. He has one more semester to finish his bachelor's degree in hotel management.

Lomong is an Olympic athlete who remembers his roots. He is a member of Team Darfur. Team Darfur is a group of Olympians using their fame to bring attention to the atrocities taking place in Darfur. I encourage all 'villagers' to cheer for any Team Darfur athlete that competes next month in the Beijing Olympics. They deserve it!

Horror Hotties- Carla Gugino


Fine, so she hasn't been in a ton of Horror projects; Rise: The Blood Hunter, She Creature, and the soon to be released The Unborn (2009), but let us not forget two key factors here...

1- She was in Sin City, and stars in next years Watchmen... Two massively huge Genre flicks...
2- She's ridiculously hot.

So according to my calculations: 3 Horror movies + 2 cool fan-boy geek movies + ridiculously hot= Horror Hottie! (My blog, my rules)


Few people know that Carla Gugino came to earth from some sort of crazy time/space warp (the picture above is absolute proof of that, so don't question me.) It's a long story, and one that our puny Earth-brains couldnt begin to comprehend, but basically she became too hot for her own planet to handle anymore, and was forced to flee to a little place called Earth. That's really odd too, considering the planet was called Sexyworld. Go figure.

She became an actress, starring first in some classic episodes of shows like ALF, Saved by the Bell, and Doogie Howser M.D. Her first step into the world of Horror came when she starred in Son in Law... Pauly Shore was terrifying as "The Weasel", and his cries of "Woooo buddy!" still give me chills.


She began to show how much she liked girls in her next Horror movie, Mermaid Chronicles 1: She Creature... Who wouldn't want to kiss a mermaid though? She has also kissed hot girls in Jaded, Rise, and Center of the World. What a brave actress/total freak. We support you Carla!

*Quick side-note: Carla has a huge rack.

Believe me, we know Carla.



Rise: Blood Hunter was her next Horror flick. Hot vampires sleeping with each other and drinking blood... there isn't much that's hotter, is there? Seriously, slutty vampires who have lesbian sex are among the finer things in this world, and yes, they really do exist.

I loved her in Entourage too.

I cant say much about The Unborn, as it doesn't come out until next year, but any flick with Carla and Gary Oldman centering on a chick who gets possessed is aces with me. As long as she looks like this, I wont care anyways:


Carla is a deserving Horror Hottie; She has been in Horror movies, she's hot, she likes lesbian sex... What more do you people want? Nudity?

Fine, here is a link to some NSFW nudies of Carla on our GIF Blog. Don't say I never gave you anything.
Carla will always be my angel.

#12- Black Christmas (1974)



Black Christmas (1974)

Sub-Genre- Slasher



In Attendance- Me, Eryn, The Vanilla Gorilla, Machine, and Nick.



Cast Members of Note- Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Kier Dullea and John Saxon!



What's it about?- Poor Billy is only tying to find someone who will listen to him; too bad he wasted his time on those snotty sorority girls... they don't seem to care at all! Every time he calls and tries to pour his heart out to them, they laugh and hang up on him and just wont listen. That means they have to die.
Billy likes to watch.


You see, Billy lives in the attic, so it's easy for him to kill a girl, meow like a cat, then hide her body, then wait for another one to kill. He really does like meowing like a cat. He also likes to ski, but nobody ever asks him about that. Not even Agnes... Bitch.



I wont ruin the end here, but let's just say that everyone gets whats coming to them... except for Billy. Nobody got him as much as a card for the holidays.





The Good- What a creepy classic this one is. Tense, dark, and unsettling, Bob Clark made a horror movie that was years ahead of it's time. His use of shadow, odd angles, and tension in place of buckets of blood were genius for its time, and stands up even today. Not bad for a budget under a million dollars.



This film is not only a Horror classic, it was also groundbreaking when it was released; it was basically the first U.S. "Slasher movie; it used the "The calls are coming from inside the house" motif years before When a Strangers Calls did; and it was one of the first movies to show us the action from the killers POV. This movie deserves to stand alongside of Halloween, although it tends to be a footnote when the two are discussed.



Billy and his phone calls are genuinely twisted.



Buy it, watch it, love it.



The Bad- I had certain misconceptions about this movie before I saw it...
Not that kind of Black Christmas.


The Downright Horrendous- WTF was up with the cops at the end? I mean seriously, do we leave a girl all alone in a house where multiple murders were just committed when the killer is still at large and we haven't searched the house? That sentence was a HUGE run-on.



The Gory- There were a few on screen deaths, but they were very light on the blood. Creepy though, very creepy.





The Naked- Nope... This one was tame in that department.



Best Line- "Darling, you can't rape a townie." or "I'm going to kill you."



What did we learn?- When someone tells you to get out of the house, dont run upstairs with a fire poker.



Rating- A An all-time classic, that every horror fan should have in their collection, especially those of us that love slashers.



Final Thoughts- John Saxon Rules!
"I really do rule. It's science."

Solo Review- Who Can Kill a Child?



Who Can Kill a Child?

Sub-Genre- Creepy Kids



In Attendance- Me



Cast Members of Note- A bunch of creepy little kids.



What's it about?- A couple decide to take a two week vacation on some crappy little Island, only to find the place inhabited by possessed little kids.
Awww, how not cute.


These kids do fun, cute little things such as beating old men to death, using corpses as pinatas, molesting dead bodies, and naked hopscotch. Luckily for the couple, they don't catch on to this stuff to early in their trip, and get a chance to walk around and see the sights.



I wont spoil the ending here, but suffice it to say that one of the kids doesnt make it.



He isn't sleeping.


The Good- Who Can Kill a Child? is creepy; from the footage of real life war atrocities suffered by children over the opening credits, to the idea that an entire town full of kids gets possessed and kill the adults like it was a game. This movie gets under your skin and stays there, and in my case had me rooting for the adults to kill the kids, which is creepy in its own right.



It's a well made film for the 70's... and were it not for the dumb as a box of hammers main characters, I'd say it's among the best from that era. I just cant but leaving your pregnant wife alone in an abandoned town while you go around looking for, and finding creepy shit. It did add to the tension greatly though.





The Bad- So let me get this straight... You're on an island with your pregnant wife which appears deserted except for a few kids; you see a small girl cane an old man to death and then she and her friends play pinata with the body using a sickle; You tell your wife nothing is wrong, then leave her alone to rummage around in the attic; you find more dead bodies in your hotel; You find out another woman is alive and try to get to her before the kids, but are too late; you see the kids attempting to strip and rape her newly dead body... and it takes all of that before you say "We need to leave."



Right.



The Downright Horrendous- A baby killing it's mother from inside of the womb is pretty fucked up. Sickle-pinata with granddad isn't very sweet either.



The Gory- Plenty of bloody corpses are laying about; An old man gets beat to death off screen; a game of sickle-pinata; kids mowed down by a machine gun.... plenty of carnage.



The Naked- Some naked corpse boobs... nothing exciting.





Best Line- "Fuck this shit, we need to go!" Oh wait, they never said that.



What did we learn?- If weird shit starts to happen and you don't get the hell out of dodge, you deserve death; also, fuck the police.



Rating- C+ As a horror movie, I give it an A; it's creepy as hell and the premise is genuinely terrifying... however, the absolutely moronic behavior by the lead actors in the face of danger brings the film down. It's worth checking out for sure, but i guarantee you'll be yelling "Leave already!" at the screen way before they get smart enough to realize it on their own.



Final Thoughts- I would have ran every last fucking one of them over with the car.
Every. Last. One.
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