"Have a safe one!"

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This will be my last post for the year 2006 but I will be back in 2007 which is only 9 hours in the near future while my Australian friends already are in the year 2007. Happy New Year Australia! Anyway, I hope you all will have a great New Years Eve but more importantly have a SAFE New Years Eve! If you go out by car be careful and when you're too drunk to drive leave your car and pick it up tomorrow in fact even if you're not drunk but just had more than two glasses of alcohol leave it behind! An accident doesn't always has to be your fault but also remember that not everybody dies in a car accident! OK, OK, OK, I know I sound like a preacher but just think before you act...

Shocking video (be aware!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPnxDzcl5-w

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"The Cosby Show"

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I always loved "The Cosby Show"! They always had good story lines that showed reality in a funny way. This would later continue in a lot of other series like for example "Will & Grace". If I remember it correctly than "The Cosby Show" was the first show that had an all star African-American cast which was not so usual for that time. Later on there were shows like "Frech Prince of Bell Air", "Moucha" and others that had a complete "Black" cast but "The Cosby Show" was the first! I also have to admit that I watched the show to see Lisa Bonet which was my favorite actress in the show! The Cosby Show was an American television sitcom that ran from 1984 to 1992. Starring Bill Cosby, the sitcom was first broadcast on September 20, 1984 and ran for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992. Bill Cosby had a great deal of creative control over the show, which was unusual for a star at that time but has become commonplace now. Cosby wanted the program to be educational as well as entertaining, reflecting Cosby's own background in education: he was credited as "William H. Cosby, Jr., Ed.D" at the beginning of each program, referencing his doctoral degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts. He also insisted that the program be taped in New York City, where he lived, rather than Los Angeles, where most television programs were taped. The show focused on the Huxtable family, an upper-middle class family living in Brooklyn, New York at 10 Stigwood Avenue. Patriarch Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable (an obstetrician/gynecologist) and his attorney wife Clair Huxtable presided over a raucous yet loving household. In every way, they were an utterly typical traditional American sitcom family, with the notable exception that they were African-American. The topics of the show involved the usual difficulties of children growing up, an example being son Theo's experiences of dealing with dyslexia, based on Cosby's real-life child Ennis who was dyslexic. The show was very much centered on Cosby's real life, and portrayed his children's lives as well. The show was extremely well-regarded, winning six Emmys, as well as three Golden Globes, five NAACP Image Awards, and a Peabody Award. It was also notable as being highly popular with white viewers and around the world, unlike many other television shows featuring mainly African-American characters. The show has been praised for its portrayal of positive child rearing methods. For instance, in the first episode, Heathcliff confronts his son about his poor grades and Theo responds that he should accept his son's weaknesses and love him unconditionally because they are father and son—a typical sentimental idiom in family sitcoms of that time, and one which generated the typical applause from the studio audience. Heathcliff, however, to the audience's surprise and amused approval, immediately and angrily calls this sentiment "the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life," completely rejecting the notion that loving his son means he must quietly and willingly accept it when the boy does not give his best effort in school, and famously threatened him with the often quoted line, "I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out!" At the time of the show's original broadcast, some people criticized the series for presenting an unrealistic portrayal of an African-American family, and for not addressing black-white relations and contemporary issues such as poverty and the AIDS-HIV epidemic. Others felt that the show was simply a portrayal of what African-Americans could potentially become. They also felt that portraying an African-American family as a normal family with normal, and largely wholesome, family issues was generally a positive contribution to issues of race in the United States. The sitcom had numerous guest star appearances, including Stevie Wonder, Willie Colon, Plácido Domingo, Tony Orlando, Dizzy Gillespie, B.B. King, Danny Kaye and Frank Robinson. Additionally, many actors had the show as their launching pad to success. Examples include Raven Symone, Angela Bassett, and Adam Sandler among others. John Ritter guest starred on an episode with Amy Yasbeck, whom he soon started a relationship with and married eight years later, and Sammy Davis Jr appeared in an episode in 1989 playing a soon to be great-grandfather who does not know how to read. It was one of the last television appearances of Davis (he would die the next year). During every episode of the following season, Heathcliff is seen wearing a black circle pin with "SDJR" on it, in commemoration of Davis' death. The popularity of The Cosby Show was often seen as a symbol of hope and progress for African-Americans in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ironically, as the final episode was airing on April 30, 1992, a series of race riots was raging throughout the city of Los Angeles, in the aftermath of the previous day's controversial verdict in the Rodney King trial.;The exterior of the Huxtable home was actually the brownstone facade of a private residence at 10 St. Luke's Place near 7th Avenue in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. That home is not a single family home but rather was divided into an owner's duplex and four tiny one-bedroom apartments. When looking out of the door of the house into the street, the fence of the park really located across the street from the real house is used as a backdrop. The show featured several unusual dream episodes. One guest starred The Muppets, with Cliff falling asleep after overeating and finding himself in a nightmare populated with muppets. Another was about all the men of the cast experiencing pregnancy. The final episode broke the fourth wall. Cosby/Cliff steps away from the Huxtable home, which was revealed to be a set surrounded by cameras and a studio audience.

See if you remember this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPLni35Bmw

They also did a lot of things on the side like commercials and stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbVnfHX7XtY

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HOLLYWOOD CLASSIC # 7 King Kong

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King Kong is the name of the fictional giant ape from the movie King Kong from the fictional Skull Island, who has appeared in several works, most of which bear his name, including the groundbreaking 1933 film, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, and numerous sequels and paraphernalia. In the original film, the character's name is Kong -- a name given to him by the inhabitants of "Skull Island" in the Indian Ocean, where Kong lived along with other over-sized animals such as snakes, pterosaurs and dinosaurs. 'King' is an appellation added by an American film crew led by Carl Denham who captures Kong and takes him to New York City to be exhibited. Kong escapes and climbs the Empire State Building (the World Trade Center in the 1976 remake) where he is shot and killed by aircraft. However, "it was beauty killed the beast," as he only climbed the building in the first place in an attempt to protect actress Ann Darrow (Dwan in the 1976 remake). A documentary about Skull Island on the DVD for the 2005 remake gives Kong's scientific name as Megaprimatus kong, and states that his species may have evolved from Gigantopithecus. I personally like the 1976 remake version the best while some critics call it the worst movie ever! It was the first movie that made me cry cause I really liked the big ape! I also like actress Jessica Lange who played the role of Dawn which was Jessica's big break in Hollywood. Did you know when King Kong first was released back in 1933 it created some big controversy in the US and this because of the story line and what people thought the movie represented! They saw it as follows. 1. King Kong a black ape was shipped to America from Africa to be shown to the Americans is very similar to what was really happening at the time. Black people were shipped to the US to work as slaves. 2. Kong fell in love with this white blond woman and it's known that a lot happened between the slaves and their land lords as well... 3. He tries to escape by breaking out from his chains and get killed, something that has happened to a lot of slaves who tried to escape their land lords! With these three facts they could live but... what about the fact that this black ape had lived in the jungle for so many days and probably slept with her to keep her save from the other animals on that island!? Slept in terms of just sleeping was already enough to get some controversy cause in the 1930's white woman were decent and didn't have any fantasies or whatsoever which included black men! Yeah, right..... Also, when Kong fell from the Empire State Building people just saw it as the big crash on Wall Street just the year before in 1929. So in fact the original movie of King Kong was nothing more than a reflection of what was really going on in American society at that time! By 1976 nobody was shocked anymore of the fact that there could be some kind of love between a human and an animal! I also loved my dogs.

Here's a link to the 1976 version of King Kong! Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UI8JCZxExc

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"The real Carmen wore Gold!"

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Today's post has nothing to do with the celebration of the African-Americans or does it... Indeed it does cause a couple of years ago there was the fight between Katarina Witt still from DDR at the time and Debbie Thomas from USA for the Gold at the Winter Olympics in Calgary 1988. Debbie was the first African-American skater who made it big in figure skating. In fact she was the only one who could keep Katarina Witt from winning her second gold medal at Olympics at least that's what everybody thought! Nobody counted on Elisabeth Manley from Canada who was a very good free skater just like Debbie Thomas. Katarina was the more elegant skater with nice programs and was already an "established" name in Figure skating. Rumors have been going around now for years that Katarina had slept with some judges to get the better marks and the medal! This has never been proven by the one's that say so. I guess it's just one of those "things" you hear about all the time. Men make it to the top by hard work while women sleep their way to the top. Anyway, that night in Calgary the heat was on between Debbie Thomas and Katarina Witt and not only for their performance! Accidentally they both picked the same piece of music for their long program; "Carmen" from Georges Bizet. Debbie wore this nice black out fit with lots of shiny, sparkling things on it. Very American! Katarina had this red dress which transformed her into "Carmen". However, both knew that no matter what color of dress they were wearing... that night the real Carmen would wear Gold!

Here's a link which let you re-live those exciting moments in figure skating and which also tributes to one of the best African-American skaters so far! Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeFUGHWo8FA

The link to the winning program:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-rMfIyX4rM

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Black hunks

I couldn't leave out the African-American men of todays sports & showbiz... not after posting the most beautiful African-American woman in an earlier topic. In my opinion black men are much more good looking than white men! They move with more class, dress more elegant and have this very special attitude which I like.

Mario Van Peebles,Carl Lewis, R. Kelly, Michael Jordan, John Jacquet, Shemar Moore, Taryll Jackson, Tyson Beckford, Simon Webbe, Jamie Foxx.
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Blast from the past # 8 (Live in Central Park - Diana Ross)

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For this Blast from the past I would like to take you back to 21st & 22nd of July 1983. I just turned 18 on July 20th of that same year when one day later Diana Ross took center stage at New-York's Central Park. I saw this concert as a birthday present from her, which wasn't of course! Anyway, when Diana started her performance little did she know that this dream of hers will go down in history as the Rainy Concert! Diana, a superstar had this vision of giving a free concert in Central Park for years. The money she would make from it she would donate to the city of New-York to built a children's playground. Diana born and raised in Detroit knew what it's like to grow up with almost nothing and that's why she wanted to use her Superstar status to give something back to the black community and people in general! This playground would be built from the money they would make from T-shirts etc... During Diana's performance on July 21st New-York became the center of this huge thunderstorm forcing Diana to stop singing and leave the stage! At first she thought that it was just a little rain shower and that it would pass by but after a while she realized that it wouldn't and that she had to give way to the storm. However, she didn't until she was told that all spectators had left the park safely. If I would ask you the question; in which place you don't want to be during a thunderstorm? I'm sure you would answer: not where there are many trees, not where there's lot of iron and steal, not standing with my feet in water holding a microphone, not where I'm surrounded by lots of electric equipment! Well Diana did! She kept talking to the audience to leave the park quietly, no pushing or whatsoever and that she would return the next day! She put her own life at risk for the sake to save the lifes of many others cause she knew that the moment she would leave the stage the lights would go out and that the audience was left by itself in the dark! This again shows what a great performer and human being she is! So, when she was back on the next day she could hardly believe that the public was there as well! Because of that it was a very emotional concert! When the concert was over and everybody had to be paid cause the lighting people, television, etc... now had worked for two days, there was no money left to built the playground! Everybody who knows Diana Ross personally always has told me that whenever she promises something she will keep her promise no matter what! The same thing here. She promised New-York this playground... New-York got it's playground only not from the money made with the concert but it was built with 275.000 USD of Diana's private money!

Here's a link to the opening of day two and some segments of day one! Imagine that it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon when both concerts took place...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMJNrYEleBA

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"USA" --- Florida 2

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I had heard about racism in the US over the years before I ever traveled there. I heard about it in school during history classes of how the black people "Negro's" were brought to the US to serve as slaves etc... I had heard about certain things that happened in the Southern states of the US. Naive that I was I thought it was all over especially in 1982. So when I first arrived in Miami Beach it was all fun! I was there with my dad and since I was only 16 I wasn't allowed in a bar or so. Because of this I once walked down the beach by myself towards 1st street and back. When I returned to the hotel the girl behind the desk wanted to know what I had done. I told her and she was in shock! She said that it was very dangerous for a white boy to go all the way to 1st by myself because of the black people over there. Well.... I was still alive and kicking so what was she talking about!? Anyway, during our second week in Orlando we stayed at a Motel and at one of the restaurants worked a girl named Shelly. She was the daughter of the owner and her mom worked there as well! Shelly was a waitress and one day she dropped a plate full with food and beverages. It was a lot of noise. Me and my dad looked at her and she laughed saying it can happen! Than she turned around and clapped three times very loud in her hands. Again me and my dad looked up to see what was going on. It was than that we saw this black man coming out of the kitchen to clean up her mess!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes neither could my dad. Did she really order that man to clean up!? Yes she did! My dad who always says what he thinks just turned at her saying that she should be ashamed of herself to let somebody else clean up the mess she made!!! That was my first time ever I witnessed some racism between white and black but it wouldn't be the last time... At the same Motel one night we and a lot of other guests were swimming at the pool when at one moment a lot of black kids entered the pool. They were having a ball! At one moment this little black kid I guess 4 years old jumps into the water where I hardly could stand and I'm 1,88m. I figured he could swim cause he went straight to the bottom and stayed there for a moment. I was thinking that he would come up any moment now and start swimming but he didn't. It took me maybe about 30 seconds before I realized that he couldn't swim and that he was drowning! I picked him up very quickly and he really held me tight and wouldn't let go. I placed him on the side of the pool talking to him and telling my dad what just had happened. My dad and I were just trying to calm him down when his mother arrived at the swimming pool. She knew immediately what had happened and came over to thank us. By that time a lot of other black people were surrounding us and started to talk. We maybe talked for about 15 minutes when my dad said Patrick just look around, don't you notice something? I looked around and couldn't see right away what he was trying to tell me. He said look, we're the only two white people in the pool left. Everybody else had gone to their rooms or were sitting near the pool staring at us! We were talking with black people, we were even in the same water with black people! Even the blacks found it strange that we stayed in and played with them and kept having the conversations going. To us they were just people! The day after during breakfast none of the white people who were with us in the pool the evening before said one word to us! I was shocked but learned a great lesson about America and it's people!

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black beauties

This week I will be celebrating the African-American people. I'm sure you must have realized by now that I do feel connected with these people. I love their music, their culture and everything that comes along with it! Here I will give you some of the most good looking African-American woman in Showbiz today!

Diana Ross, Halle Berry, Mary Wilson, Ashanti, Beyoncé, Diahann Carroll, Vanessa Williams, Lisa Bonet, Iman, Tyra Banks, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Naomi Campbell, Grace Jones, Toni Braxton

































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Happy Kwanzaa

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To all my friends in LA!


"HAPPY KWANZAA!!!



ZAAKwanzaa (or Kwaanza) is a week-long Pan-African secular holiday primarily honoring African-American heritage. It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year, almost exclusively in the United States of America. Kwanzaa consists of seven days of celebration, featuring activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations, and culminating in a feast and gift-giving. It was founded by Ron Karenga, and first celebrated from December 26, 1966, to January 1, 1967. Karenga calls Kwanzaa the African American branch of "first fruits" celebrations of classical African cultures. Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called "The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa", or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba - "The seven Principles of Blackness"), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy" consisting of Karenga's distillation of what he deemed "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason that Karenga used to refer to his synthesized system of belief. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, which are explained by Karenga as follows: Umoja (Unity) To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together. Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle. These principles correspond to Karenga's notion that "the seven-fold path of blackness is think black, talk black, act black, create black, buy black, vote black, and live black."


I would like to dedicate this video to you, I love you all!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2WwlcI9tkU&search=diana%20ross%20central%20park%20live%20concert%20nyc

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The Godfather of Soul

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I'm sure by now that you all heard the sad news that Soul Legend "James Brown" has left us for good! Mr. Brown sang one of my all time favorite songs which is..... "Living in America"! I'm sure you all know why! Anyway, James Joseph Brown, Jr. (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006), commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul", was an American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century popular music. As a prolific singer, songwriter, bandleader and record producer, Brown was a seminal force in the evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk. He left his mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, reggae, disco, dance and electronic music, afrobeat, and hip-hop music. Brown began his professional music career in 1953 and skyrocketed to fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s on the strength of his thrilling live performances and a string of smash hits. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he continued to score hits in every decade through the 1980s. In the 1960s and 1970s Brown was a presence in American political affairs, noted especially for his activism on behalf of African Americans and the poor (as well as his outspoken support for Richard Nixon). Brown was recognized by a plethora of (mostly self-bestowed) titles, including Soul Brother Number One, Mr. Dynamite, the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk, Mr. Please Please Please, The Boss (as a Diana Ross fan I don't agree with this one), and the best-known, the Godfather of Soul. He was renowned for his shouting vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style. Except the previous mentioned "Living in America" I do have some other favorites by James. "Sex machine", "It's a man's, man's man's world" and "I feel good (I got you)".

Here's a link to that great song: "Living in America"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMMIND6I7YA

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"Rolex"

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After "Cartier", "Rolex" watches were the one's everybody wanted back in the 1980's. Well it depends cause some people wanted to have the "Rolex" cause they were more expensive compared to Cartier. I was always happy with my fake Cartier until I had to go to Korea to judge my first Junior Worlds in 1996. In Seoul I bought me some nice "real" Cartier and Rolex watches. By the time I got home I decided to keep one Rolex for myself. This one lasted for more than 4 years. At that time Mathew Van Den Broek was skating for Belgium and he was very good in "getting a good price" for everything. Most skaters, coaches, team leaders and judges always asked Mathew to come along if they wanted to buy something... Here's a picture of a real Rolex! The one I got was similar to this one except the price that is. Mine was much more expensive!!!

Find out more about "Rolex"
http://www.rolex.com/en/

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"Christmas over the ......"

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Hello everybody! This will be the last post on Christmas for this year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas evening and day with lots of presents that you like! I had a great Christmas this year! Got some nice presents, bought some myself..., went carting with my best friend. He won but that's only 'cause he cheated... Because it was Christmas I was in a good mood so I let him win... lol Christmas dinner was also delicious and I spend the evening with my folks. Everything went great until last night! It was then that my stomach wasn't feeling so well with the result that I had to spend Christmas night over the toilet! No need to worry I won't show you any pictures.....

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"Christmas in Antwerp"

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Antwerp, my town, is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe especially during the Holyday Season. Here are some picture to give you an idea how it looks like! I'm sure they'll get you in the right mood for the Holiday Season! All these pictures are taken in the city center on the "Grand Place" in front of the City Hall and on the "Green Place" featuring the Cathedral in the back.

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Blast from the past # 7 (Last Christmas by Wham!)

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I always loved this (Christmas) song but except the word "Christmas", the "sleighbells" at the beginning and the video which was taped somewhere at a winter sport destination there wasn't much of Christmas... The same can be said about a lot of other Christmas songs who sometimes doesn't even have the word Christmas included! "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1984, on a double A-side with "Everything She Wants". It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo. The song's Christmas theme was essentially a ruse to draw in the festive market as the lyrics were entirely about a failed relationship, which just happened to come to a head the previous Christmas. There were no other words or expressions within the lyrics with a seasonal theme or hint, except for a sleighbell effect during the instrumental interlude. Wham! had been a dominant force in the UK singles chart in 1984 and news that they were planning a Christmas single meant that a mouth-watering battle for the coveted Christmas #1 spot in the UK seemed set to be between Wham! and the year's other big act, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, who had achieved a third #1 in early December with "The Power Of Love". However, the Band Aid project, helmed by Bob Geldof, ensured that the destination of the Christmas #1 spot became a non-contest. Wham!'s offering peaked at #2 for much of the period, although George's involvement in Band Aid meant that Wham! still had an input. Wham! subsequently topped up the monies raised by Band Aid by donating all of their "Last Christmas/Everything She Wants" royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal. "Last Christmas" did make #1 in various other countries. The single sold well over a million copies and became the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach #1. A year later, it was re-issued for Christmas again (this time without a billed flip-side) and got to #6. A second re-issue at Christmas 1986 - by which time Wham! had split - stalled outside the top 40.

Here's a link to that great Christmas song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06rlB0Kw3fw

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