Archive for the 'In the News' Category

July 21, 2008 | In the News

The announcement that Starbucks is closing 600 stores of their stores is old news. I just read this on the Wall Street Journal online today. They just recently released all the locations. They’re only closing one here in the state of Arizona and it’s in Eloy.

I know you all living in California are getting hit the hardest. What are your thoughts? Are you going to jump on the Save the Starbucks bandwagon? Are you glad to see it go? What will you miss most? This inquiring mind wants to know.

Technorati Tags: Starbucks, Wall Street Journal, Arizona, Eloy, California, Save the Starbucks

July 15, 2008 | Family Portrait, In the News, Life in General, Movie Queue, Must-See DVD, The 4-1-1 on Me, Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday morning, I helped my parents out at an event for which they volunteered. The 2008 Backpack Giveaway Event was sponsored by ChildHelp, AZ Rod and Classic Car Club (of which my Dad is a member), M&I Bank and the City of Phoenix Parks and Rec Dept and gave away free backpacks to children of low-income families. They had free food, free water, local music entertainment and a mini-classic car show (my Dad is still looking to sell his ‘33 Ford if there are any SERIOUS takers out there). Several boxes of stuffed animals were donated by Kohl’s and me, my Mom and two other ladies helped pass them out. We were out there for 4 hrs and even though we were under the cover of tents, it was still hotter than Satan’s breath. I went straight home and took a shower.

Saturday night, the hubby and I attended a surprise birthday party for my brother-in-law. He had no idea about the party…until they pulled up to the house and saw all the cars. Duh! My sister said park whereever, but what she should’ve said was park around the corner. Or park in front of other houses. It was funny, truth be told. Eat and run. Typical black folk, y’know? Stay just long enough to exchange a few words (and hugs) with the birthday boy, eat (didn’t even wait for dessert!) and leave. LOL. Maybe it was the fact that my sister didn’t give an actual time they were bringing him home. She told people to come anytime after 3. Some people had probably gotten there right at 3 or 330 (like my BF) and they didn’t bring him around until 5 or 6-something! I shouldn’t have been surprised. My sister never was good at the time thing.

Must-See DVD pick:EASTERN PROMISES with Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. We watched this Saturday night. If you have not seen this movie, rent it or watch it now playing on the movie channel (don’t remember which one). If you don’t like violent movies, then it’s not for you, but Viggo is fabulous in this movie. And he does a great Russian accent.

Sunday, the hubby and I had breakfast at our favorite place (the one we go to looks nothing like this, and is always crowded, but worth the wait) then went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army. We liked it. It was directed by Guillermo Del Toro and the creatures he created in the Troll World were amazing. If you’ve ever seen Pan’s Labryinth, and then you see this movie, you’ll know what I mean. Oh, and that Prince Nuada dude? Very. Cool. Moves. Movies I’m looking forward to seeing:

THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (have you noticed that Brendan Fraser’s hairdo never seems to change in these movies? )

THE DARK KNIGHT - I’ve heard Oscar nomination buzz for Heath’s role and apparently, around the time of his death, director Christopher Nolan wrote a eulogy to him in Newsweek. Did anyone catch that?)

MAMMA MIA - Love me some ABBA

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 - seeing the first one made me add Greece to my Places to Travel list.

DEATH RACE - I have a serious love jones for Jason Statham. Sorry babe.

BABYLON A.D. - Oh, how I’ve missed seeing Vin Diesel in an action flick.

THE SPIRIT - If you liked Sin City, then you’ll like this movie, too, because it’s from the same guy, Frank Miller. And it’s the sequel to Sin City.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE -I’m still reserving judgement about Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, but this one looks to be as good as the previous one. I still have no idea what it’s about, but I know it picks up from where Casino Royale left off.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 - yes, dammit, I’m a fan. Shut the hell up.

TWILIGHT - Stephenie Meyer is a hometown favorite–and she’s very nice in person, too. I haven’t read her series, but I’m interested in seeing this one.

So, what about you? How was your weekend? What movies are you looking forward to seeing this year?

Technorati Tags: 2008 Backpack Giveaway Event, ChildHelp, AZ Rod and Classic Car Club, M&I Bank, City of Phoenix Parks and Rec Dept, Kohl’s, EASTERN PROMISES, Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Guillermo Del Toro, Pan’s Labryinth, Prince Nuada, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR, Brendan Fraser, THE DARK KNIGHT, Christopher Nolan, Newsweek, MAMMA MIA, ABBA, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2, Greece, DEATH RACE, Jason Statham, BABYLON A.D, Vin Diesel, THE SPIRIT, Sin City, Frank Miller, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, Daniel Craig, Casino Royale , HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3, TWILIGHT, Stephenie Meyer

July 14, 2008 | In the News, Life in General

I got mad after reading about what happened to this teacher. When I would tell people that my major in college was English, they always assumed it was because I wanted to teach.

No. It was because I wanted to be a writer.

But it helped that I had a couple of English teachers to encourage me. After reading this article, I am once again reminded that good teachers are hard to find. And keep. It pissed me off that this teacher–who’d been teaching for a long time–had found a way to reach her students, to give them hope, only to have it ripped away from her because why? It wasn’t in the normal school curriculum? Because administrators want to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to dealing with real life topics? WHAT. EVER.

There’s a reason why that No Child Left Behind law was introduced. And why it’s not working.

No one seems to understand that the norm isn’t working. Teachers have to come up with ways to keep their students–at risk or not–engaged and they have to come up with creative ways to do it. Normal, educational, set standards don’t work. You wanna know why teens ditch school? You wanna know why they drop out or never graduate? You wanna know why it’s so damn hard to find teachers? It’s because of all the restrictions placed on them.

“You have to teach this subject, with only these materials and that’s it”. There’s no room for creativity, no room for growth or change. And the teachers who want to help, who actually believe that their students can go on to do better things, are cut off at the knees because they want to introduce something outside of the accepted curriculum.

I could get on my soapbox and go on forever about this, but I’m not. I see this as a simple case of a teacher trying to step outside the learning box only to have the lid slammed down for her efforts.

And the ones who suffered were her students.

Technorati Tags: No Child Left Behind

June 14, 2008 | In the News, Random Thought

I was checkin’ out Yahoo headlines this evening and found this music blog. Even though it says Top Ten, it should be Top Nine because one of the names is the actual name…and therefore doesn’t count.

I thought it was interesting to see what the real names were, because you really have to wonder sometimes, y’know? Where the hell did they come up with that name? Only to find out, that, well, huh. Maybe it was a good idea to change it to something else. Or not.

So let me ask you this…if you were a famous actor, actress, musician, author, whatever, would you keep your given name or change it to something else? If you changed it, what would you change it to?

June 2, 2008 | Book Stuff, Calendar of Events, In the News, Life in General, contests

June is ‘Book Reviewing’ month at Blogcritics Magazine!

To promote the release of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, co-author Mayra Calvani will be interviewing 15+ reviewers and review editors during the month of June. Learn all about the business of book reviewing and what’s in the mind of some of the most popular reviewers on the internet today. Some of the guests will include: Alex Moore from ForeWord Magazine, James Cox from Midwest Book Review, Irene Watson from Reader Views, Andrea Sisco from Armchair Interviews, Magdalena Ball from The Compulsive Reader, Sharyn McGinty from In The Library Reviews, Lea Schizas from Muse Book Reviews, Linda Baldwin from Road to Romance, Hilary Williamson from Book Loons, Judy Clark from Mostly Fiction, and many others!

To see the complete lineup, visit: The Slippery Book Review Blog.

Between June 1st and June 30th, stop by Blogcritics and leave a comment under the reviewer interviews for a chance to win a Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour (coordinated by book marketing guru Dorothy Thompson), OR, as an alternative to a non-author winner, a $50 B&N gift certificate!

Technorati Tags: Blogcritics Magazine, Slippery-Art-Book-Reviewing, Mayra Calvani, Alex Moore, ForeWord Magazine, James Cox, Midwest Book Review, Irene Watson, Reader Views, Andrea Sisco, Armchair Interviews, Magdalena Ball, The Compulsive Reader, Sharyn McGinty, In The Library Reviews, Lea Schizas, Muse Book Reviews, Linda Baldwin, Road to Romance, Hilary Williamson, Book Loons, Judy Clark, Mostly Fiction, The Slippery Book Review Blog, Pump Up Your Book Promotion, Dorothy Thompson