[scifinoir2] William Shatner Roast on Comedy Central

[Keith Johnson]

Anyone check out this roast of Bill Shatner, hosted by Jason Alexander? Some
pretty wild zingers from Alexander. I can only imagine what was said on the
uncensored version.

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/roast_shatner/index.jhtml


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
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[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[ravenadal]

There are now only 312 Black firefighters in the New York City Fire
Department out of a total force of 11,350. They make up 2.7% of the
fire department, in a city where 24.5% of the population is Black and
nearly 50% is minority. The fire department is the city's least
diverse municipal work force. Twelve Black firefighters gave their
lives along with 332 other emergency personnel in the World Trade
Center tragedy. 

Anyway, here's the link you asked for:

http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/view/490/1/50/

The horrible events of 9/11 brought people together. But now there is
an effort to destroy that unity. The statue planned to commemorate
firefighters lost at the World Trade Center has generated much
controversy and some thoughtful discussion.

Should the monument depict a team, made up of an African American, a
Latino, and a white firefighter raising the U.S. flag, as proposed by
the artists? Or should it show three white firefighters, as in the
news photograph of the World Trade Center flag-raising which suggested it?

-- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Are you trying to tell me that the NYC firefighters actually claimed
that *none* of the hundreds of firefighters on the scenes were
Black??? That can't be possible.  What about all the cops, Port
Authority, transportation cops pressed into service, medics, doctors,
etc? Got any links to this particular bit of info?
> 
> -- Original message -- 
> From: "ravenadal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
> I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC took
> from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911 monument
> with one of the memorialized firefighters being black. The
> firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were black
> this would be the worse form of politcial correctness.
> 
> ~(no)rave! 
> 
> --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly
> Tracey L. Minor)"  wrote:
> >
> > 
> > 
> >  Original Message 
> > Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
> > Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
> > From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance 
> > Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance 
> > To: AFAMHED@
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
> > 
> > Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> > By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> > http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
> > A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has
some 
> > people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a 
> > Hollywood film.
> > 
>

> 
> > 
> > Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
> > *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police 
> > officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's 
> > movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to portray
> Thomas. **
> > Click photo for larger image.*
> > 
> > This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former 
> > Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno
> and 
> > John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken
concrete 
> > and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
> > In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's
cousin 
> > and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of "Lost" and Quecreek 
> > miner John "Flathead" Phillippi in ABC's "The Pennsylvania Miners' 
> > Story" -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
> > Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason 
> > Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story.
> > "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," Thomas told the
Associated 
> > Press. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a 
> > Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' "
> > So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal 
> > Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he
headed 
> > toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine 
> > and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two
> decided 
> > to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin.
> > Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at
> ground 
> > zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay 
> > information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint
> the 
> > trapped men's location.
> > Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial 
> > inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after 
> > production had already begun, the Associated Press reported.
> > That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of
Wilkinsburg who 
> > sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list 
> > serves and Internet groups, such as the

RE: [scifinoir2] Team finds 'proof' of dark matter

[Keith Johnson]

Amazing. Dark matter is pretty now proved, along with black holes. And
negative energy?  I remember as a kid, watching the first episode of Star
Trek that was aired, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". In it, the Enterprise
encounters a barrier at the edge of our galaxy. The barrier was said to have
negative matter, negative density, and negative energy. Back then i thought
"That's silly. How can you negative energy and matter?"  Well, guess Trek
was on to something after all.

  _  

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of brent wodehouse
Sent: Monday, 21 August, 2006 19:28
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [scifinoir2] Team finds 'proof' of dark matter



http://news. 
bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5272226.stm

Last Updated: Monday, 21 August 2006

Team finds 'proof' of dark matter

By Paul Rincon

Science reporter, BBC News

US astronomers say they have found the first direct evidence for the
mysterious stuff called dark matter.

Dark matter - which does not emit or reflect enough light to be "seen" -
is thought to make up 25% of the Universe.

By contrast, the ordinary matter we can see is believed to make up no more
than about 5% of our Universe.

Until now, astronomers have only been able to infer the existence of this
dark material through the gravitational effects it has on ordinary matter.

The researchers have discovered what is effectively the gravitational
signature of dark matter.

This signature was created by dark matter and ordinary matter being
wrenched apart by the immense collision of two large galaxy clusters.

"The kinetic energy of this collision is...enough to completely evaporate
and pulverise planet Earth ten trillion trillion times over," said team
member Maxim Markevitch of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
in Cambridge, US.

Study leader Doug Clowe, from the University of Arizona, said: "This
provides the first direct proof that dark matter must exist and that it
must make up the majority of the matter in the Universe."

Gravity puzzle

Astronomers have known since the 1930s that these galaxy clusters have far
too much gravity to be explained by the amount of visible matter in them
alone.

This extra gravity has two possible explanations. One is that most matter
in the clusters is in a form we cannot see, because it does not absorb or
emit light.

A second explanation is that gravity does not behave the same way in
galaxy clusters light years in size as it does on Earth.

Usually, the gas and the galaxies in the clusters are held close together
in space by gravity.

But in the cosmic smash-up known to astronomers as the Bullet Cluster,
these components have been pulled apart. The astronomers were lucky enough
to catch the collision just 100 million years after it occurred - the
blink of an eye in cosmic time.

The researchers could see that the hot gas in the collision had been
slowed down by a drag force, similar to air resistance. Meanwhile, the
galaxies themselves continued speeding through space, leaving the gas
behind.

Dark matter particles should not slow down in the same way as the gas;
they do not interact directly with themselves or the gas except through
gravity. Instead, dark matter should behave in a similar way to the
galaxies.

More mass in gas

If dark matter did exist, the astronomers expected to find the majority of
mass in clusters residing around the galaxies.

But if dark matter did not exist, most of the galaxy cluster's mass would
be in its diffuse hot gas. This is because galaxy clusters typically
contain 10 times as much ordinary mass in gas as in stars.

The researchers found most of the mass was located near the galaxies -
ahead of the gas clouds - showing the dark matter really was there.

The majority of the Universe - some 70% - is composed of dark energy, an
equally mysterious quantity which exerts negative pressure.

"Dark matter and dark energy are not what anyone would have expected
starting from the perspective of what the Universe should be like," said
Sean Carroll, a cosmologist at the University of Chicago, who was not
involved with the study, "but we're trying to understand why it's like
that and this result puts us on that path."

In order to locate the mass in the clusters, researchers used the Chandra
and Hubble space telescopes, along with the Very Large Telescope and
Magellan optical telescopes in Chile.

This was done by measuring the effect of gravitational lensing, where
gravity from the clusters distorts light from background galaxies, as
predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.



 


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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Massive crash proves 'dark matter' exists, astronomers say

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cool science stuff!


* Stupendous crash proves "dark matter" exists,
astronomers claim:
The most forceful known collision in the universe
has torn apart normal and dark matter, researchers
say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060821_darkmatter.htm


* "Artificial muscles" to liven TV color:
Scientists are exploring a technology that they hope
will produce more lifelike colors.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060817_tvcolor.htm


* A gene that makes us human?:
A newfound gene might help explain why our brains
are so big, according to researchers.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060816_braingene.htm


* Bringing back the extinct:
Mouse experiments are reviving the idea that some
extinct species can be resurrected.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060814_extinct.htm


* Now downloadable: "music" of the stars:
The ancient Greeks believed the stars participate in
a sort of celestial symphony. They had it wrong --
but not totally.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060809_spheres.htm




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[scifinoir2] Team finds 'proof' of dark matter

[brent wodehouse]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5272226.stm

Last Updated: Monday, 21 August 2006

Team finds 'proof' of dark matter

By Paul Rincon

Science reporter, BBC News


US astronomers say they have found the first direct evidence for the
mysterious stuff called dark matter.

Dark matter - which does not emit or reflect enough light to be "seen" -
is thought to make up 25% of the Universe.

By contrast, the ordinary matter we can see is believed to make up no more
than about 5% of our Universe.

Until now, astronomers have only been able to infer the existence of this
dark material through the gravitational effects it has on ordinary matter.

The researchers have discovered what is effectively the gravitational
signature of dark matter.

This signature was created by dark matter and ordinary matter being
wrenched apart by the immense collision of two large galaxy clusters.

"The kinetic energy of this collision is...enough to completely evaporate
and pulverise planet Earth ten trillion trillion times over," said team
member Maxim Markevitch of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
in Cambridge, US.

Study leader Doug Clowe, from the University of Arizona, said: "This
provides the first direct proof that dark matter must exist and that it
must make up the majority of the matter in the Universe."


Gravity puzzle

Astronomers have known since the 1930s that these galaxy clusters have far
too much gravity to be explained by the amount of visible matter in them
alone.

This extra gravity has two possible explanations. One is that most matter
in the clusters is in a form we cannot see, because it does not absorb or
emit light.

A second explanation is that gravity does not behave the same way in
galaxy clusters light years in size as it does on Earth.

 Usually, the gas and the galaxies in the clusters are held close together
in space by gravity.

But in the cosmic smash-up known to astronomers as the Bullet Cluster,
these components have been pulled apart. The astronomers were lucky enough
to catch the collision just 100 million years after it occurred - the
blink of an eye in cosmic time.

The researchers could see that the hot gas in the collision had been
slowed down by a drag force, similar to air resistance. Meanwhile, the
galaxies themselves continued speeding through space, leaving the gas
behind.

Dark matter particles should not slow down in the same way as the gas;
they do not interact directly with themselves or the gas except through
gravity. Instead, dark matter should behave in a similar way to the
galaxies.


More mass in gas

If dark matter did exist, the astronomers expected to find the majority of
mass in clusters residing around the galaxies.

But if dark matter did not exist, most of the galaxy cluster's mass would
be in its diffuse hot gas. This is because galaxy clusters typically
contain 10 times as much ordinary mass in gas as in stars.

The researchers found most of the mass was located near the galaxies -
ahead of the gas clouds - showing the dark matter really was there.

The majority of the Universe - some 70% - is composed of dark energy, an
equally mysterious quantity which exerts negative pressure.

"Dark matter and dark energy are not what anyone would have expected
starting from the perspective of what the Universe should be like," said
Sean Carroll, a cosmologist at the University of Chicago, who was not
involved with the study, "but we're trying to understand why it's like
that and this result puts us on that path."

In order to locate the mass in the clusters, researchers used the Chandra
and Hubble space telescopes, along with the Very Large Telescope and
Magellan optical telescopes in Chile.

This was done by measuring the effect of gravitational lensing, where
gravity from the clusters distorts light from background galaxies, as
predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.



 
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[scifinoir2] Nightmare at 20,000 Feet Remix

[brent wodehouse]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Y2KLKsjZ4



 
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Re: [scifinoir2] [Fwd: Eric La Salle's new tv projects]

[Martin Pratt]

I'm all over that Four Horsemen project. Apocalypse: Too Soon...

"Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:  

 Original Message 
Subject: Eric La Salle's new tv projects
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 05:57:43 -0400
From: C V <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: GIRLFRIEND <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

ERIC LA SALLE BRINGS TWO PROJECTS TO TV: "ER" vet behind sitcom for
NBC and crime drama for CBS.
(August 21, 2006)

*Amidst the hollow absence of television dramas starring
African Americans in lead roles next season, former "ER" star Eric La
Salle is hoping to stem the tide with a new drama from his own
production banner, Humble Journey.

CBS has purchased La Salle's "25 to Life," a crime drama that
will also star the actor as FBI agent Gabriel Santana. The premise
follows federal agents who work with criminals to solve cases.

The show represents the first major development to come out of
La Salle's talent and production deal with CBS Paramount Network,
which was signed last year.

In addition, NBC has given a script commitment to "The Four
Next Door," a Humble Journey comedy centered on the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse. War, Famine, Pestilence and Death – as referenced in
Revelations, Chapter 6 of the Bible – arrive on earth a decade too
soon for the end of the world and are forced to blend in among humans.



 


"Excuse me while I whip this out."
Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles"

-
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Re: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[Daryle Lockhart]

Great analogy about the sun. Loved that one.

I think the movie is a horrible idea. Flight 93, this one, all if   
em. And I think they're bad ideas because they turn serious events  
into  popcorn movies. THis wasn't an intergalactic civil war, this  
was the ending of people's families. Subjects this serious should be  
documented, not dramatized.  We all saw the footage. There's no need  
to interpret it. I think there is artistic and cultural value in a  
well made documentary, especially something like 9/11.  Doing a  
dramatic retelling just seems cheesy and "makeafastbuck-ish". It's  
why movies like "Amistad" irk me. Don't frame something this  
important,  even something like Pearl Harbor, like it was some  
imaginary event.  It really happened. People's lives were changed.  
There's drama in THAT. Why do we need Nicolas Cage to drive that  
point home?

On Aug 21, 2006, at 10:00 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

It's these subtle ways the larger society Blacks of bits of self- 
esteem that they have all around them. It's why I still support Black- 
focused media. I get sick of people asking me the age-old question,  
"Why do y'all have to have Ebony and Essence, Miss Black America, or  
HBCU's? White people don't have organizations that have 'White' in  
the title". Stuff like this continually points out the word "white"  
doesn't have to be added because it's just assumed. It be like me  
saying, "The Sun is pretty bright today". You gonna turn around and  
ask me which sun I'm talking about? Sirius? Betelguese? Proxima  
Centauri?? No, you know I mean "Sol" and when most whites hear  
"hero", "love interest", "genius", "leader", etc., they just slap a  
white face on it.

That being said, why do you think the movie's a bad idea overall? I  
think it's a good idea to remember the tragedy through a well-done  
film. I don't think it's too soon--frankly, it'll never be long  
enough for some. I know the documentaries are good, but dramas can  
focus on things in different ways. It's like movies dealing with race  
riots or police brutality against Blacks: hard as they are to watch,  
I want to experience them.

-- Original message --
From: Daryle Lockhart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Two things about this film: One, and probably most importantly, it
simply did not need to be made. It's in bad taste, and there's no way
to put it out without pissing SOMEBODY off. There are documentaries
already. That's enough. It was just five years ago. Anyone who
doesn't remember what happens should be GLAD.

Secondly, this "error" should not surprise ANYone. How many ways do
we need to be told that Hollywood does not see us as human beings? If
we're not Will Smith, or some hypersexual or socially obsolete
caricature, we serve no purpose in Hollywood. THIS is why we need to
be telling our own stories, and, I hate to say it, folks, but we
need to be telling them outside of the Hollywood system. This is a
system that couldn't keep Star Trek going after Gene died, does
Transformer movies without Soundwave, and KEEPS giving Mickey Roarke
work. WE are the LAST if its concerns. Hollywood applauds our
weaknesses and tells us that "nobody wants to go see" our
strengths. Unless, of course, our strength is us taking our shirt off.

This WTC movie is a bad idea and should serve as a lesson to "how far
we've come".

On Aug 20, 2006, at 9:13 AM, Keith Johnson wrote:

I respect Mr. Thomas' graciousness, but this is a big deal. I find it
hard
to believe this was a simple mistake. When researching roles, don't the
producers look up peoples' records, verify their address, name, and
other
statistics? Don't they talk to friends and associates? Don't they try
to get
pictures of them? How do you cast a role based on a living person and
not in
in shape form or fashion realize he's Black?
I think this does need to be talked about loudly. Doing so doesn't
diminish
from the heroism around 9-11, but not doing so simply creates more
victims
of another type of terrorist act: that of white America to continually
diminish Blacks in this country.

_

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Thursday, 17 August, 2006 23:58
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; GIRLFRIEND;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

 Original Message 
Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 RR.COM>
Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 RR.COM>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]  MUOHIO.EDU

'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post- 

Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[KeithBJohnson]

True. I had a guy hear asking what was the big deal that Chinese women played 
Japanese characters. He gave the standard "can't we all get along" speech. 
That's too difficult to explain to some, as many people don't care in many 
circumstances. I tend to think you should try to honor the people about whom 
the story is told as much as possible.  I know many don't care, but often the 
conversation's usually focused on people of at least the same race simply 
faking accents, and often doing it well. (Don Cheadle in "Hotel Rwanda", Renee 
Zellwegger in "Bridget Jones' Diary", Meryl Streep in everything she did before 
1990). I still have issues sometimes with Americans always hiring Americans to 
play people from other countries, but again, at least the skin color is the 
same. Completely chaning the race? That's just crazy.

-- Original message -- 
From: "g123curious" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
As I read the article below, Gray's comments reminded me of the 
movie, "Memoirs of a Geisha" what had several Chinese actors 
portraying Japanese characters. The actors were all fine actors but 
this film's casting approach pissed off people, too.

George
Captain
USS McNair

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly 
Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> 
> 
>  Original Message 
> Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
> From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 
> 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
> 
> Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
> A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has 
some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character 
in a Hollywood film.
> http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-
gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg
> 
> Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
>
> *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority 
police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver 
Stone's movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to 
portray Thomas. **
>
> 
> This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two 
former Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will 
Jimeno and John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, 
broken concrete and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 
attacks. In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom 
Cruise's cousin and who played Ethan Rom in the first season 
of "Lost" and Quecreek miner John "Flathead" Phillippi in ABC's "The 
Pennsylvania Miners' Story" -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
>
> Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named 
Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his 
story. "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," Thomas told the 
Associated Press. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this 
training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in 
need.' "
>
> So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of 
Criminal Justice at City University of New York that fateful 
morning, he headed toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran 
into another ex-Marine and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David 
Karnes, and the two decided to search for survivors. Eventually they 
found Jimeno and McLoughlin. Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 
911 from his cell phone at ground zero, called his sister in 
Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay information to New York 
emergency services that helped them pinpoint the trapped men's 
location.
>
> Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial 
inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after 
production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. That 
apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who 
sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list 
serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday 
calling for a boycott of the film.
>
> "You want to apologize to me?" Mr. Gray says. "Stop it."
>
> Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in 
popular culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so 
arises, they should be, he says. "It's so natural for Hollywood to 
assume that every hero is a white man," Mr. Gray wrote in his e-
mail. "Hollywood has always changed facts and edited history. From 
Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. They are 
only continuing their tradition of whitewashing our history."
>
> He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. 
The Jewish community's mantra is "never forget" while the black 
community's mantra is "forgive and forget," he said. The black 
community should speak up ever

Re: [scifinoir2] [Fwd: Eric La Salle's new tv projects]

[Martin Pratt]

I'm all over that Four Horsemen project. Apocalypse: Too Soon...

"Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:  

 Original Message 
Subject: Eric La Salle's new tv projects
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 05:57:43 -0400
From: C V <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: GIRLFRIEND <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

ERIC LA SALLE BRINGS TWO PROJECTS TO TV: "ER" vet behind sitcom for
NBC and crime drama for CBS.
(August 21, 2006)

*Amidst the hollow absence of television dramas starring
African Americans in lead roles next season, former "ER" star Eric La
Salle is hoping to stem the tide with a new drama from his own
production banner, Humble Journey.

CBS has purchased La Salle's "25 to Life," a crime drama that
will also star the actor as FBI agent Gabriel Santana. The premise
follows federal agents who work with criminals to solve cases.

The show represents the first major development to come out of
La Salle's talent and production deal with CBS Paramount Network,
which was signed last year.

In addition, NBC has given a script commitment to "The Four
Next Door," a Humble Journey comedy centered on the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse. War, Famine, Pestilence and Death – as referenced in
Revelations, Chapter 6 of the Bible – arrive on earth a decade too
soon for the end of the world and are forced to blend in among humans.



 


"Excuse me while I whip this out."
Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles"
 __
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
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<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

Re: [scifinoir2] [Fwd: Eric La Salle's new tv projects]

[Martin Pratt]

I'm all over that Four Horsemen project. Apocalypse Too Soon...

"Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:  

 Original Message 
Subject: Eric La Salle's new tv projects
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 05:57:43 -0400
From: C V <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: GIRLFRIEND <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

ERIC LA SALLE BRINGS TWO PROJECTS TO TV: "ER" vet behind sitcom for
NBC and crime drama for CBS.
(August 21, 2006)

*Amidst the hollow absence of television dramas starring
African Americans in lead roles next season, former "ER" star Eric La
Salle is hoping to stem the tide with a new drama from his own
production banner, Humble Journey.

CBS has purchased La Salle's "25 to Life," a crime drama that
will also star the actor as FBI agent Gabriel Santana. The premise
follows federal agents who work with criminals to solve cases.

The show represents the first major development to come out of
La Salle's talent and production deal with CBS Paramount Network,
which was signed last year.

In addition, NBC has given a script commitment to "The Four
Next Door," a Humble Journey comedy centered on the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse. War, Famine, Pestilence and Death – as referenced in
Revelations, Chapter 6 of the Bible – arrive on earth a decade too
soon for the end of the world and are forced to blend in among humans.



 


"Excuse me while I whip this out."
Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles"
 __
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Saw "Snakes on a Plane"

[KeithBJohnson]

Ha-ha! It really was camp fun. I don't like the modern horror flicks. You'll 
never catch me watching "Saw" or "Hostel" or anything like this. This really 
wasn't gross at all. No worse than Night of the Living Dead or the first 
Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street. So the gore isn't much at all. It's just 
stupid fun. If you go, go with a group and pay matinee.  I've spent the last 
month and a half moving, so between the packing, negotiations, contractors, and 
stuff, I think I'd have watched anything with glee!

-- Original message -- 
From: "g123curious" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
Congrats on a thorough, well-written movie review. And since 
Americans will watch just about anything, congrats to Samuel Jackson 
on an excellent payday. I'll pass on seeing this dribble.

George

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> This movie had more cheese than the whole state of Wisconsin! It 
was cheesy, camp, corny, overdone, overblown, melodramatic, stupid, 
silly, forced, full of gratuitous nudity and gore--and I LOVED 
it! "SoAP", as Sam Jackson says, tells you up front what it's about. 
It's not Shakespeare, not even trying to be as serious as the 
great '70s disaster flicks like "Airport" or "The Poseidon 
Adventure", which actually were intended to be real dramas, no 
matter how we remember them. No, "Snakes" was obviously conceived, 
written, and directed to be a silly movie. The first scenes were 
over the top. I won't spoil it for y'all who haven't seen it, but 
the bad guy is so bad he might as well have worn a moustache to 
twirl. Of course he's a hands-on kind of leader (think Robert 
DeNiro's famous "Batter up!" scene in "The Untouchables" and you get 
the idea). He's so bad he's funny. And of course since he's Asian, 
we get treated to a completely unnecessary scene of him oiled down, 
muscles glistening, as he beats the crap out of a sparring partner 
during a martial arts training session. (Don't all Asian criminals 
practice martial arts in between dealing drugs and killing 
government witnesses?)
> 
> Then the film uses the old staple long used by disaster flicks 
and shows like "the Love Boat": introduce a whole bunch of 
characters in quick succession, only giving sketch profiles of each. 
The background info is very surface--just enough to be useful later 
when they die. For example, there's *always* a kid or two in an 
airplane disaster flick who's traveling without parents for the 
first time, so you can later "ooh" and "ahh" at how brave they are. 
SoAP had 'em. There's always the dude who's so terrified of flying 
he's a basket case. Again, got one in this flick. The randy young 
couple who's gonna get offed while their clothes are off and they're 
doing something nasty? Check. The obnoxious jerk who everyone in the 
audience is just waiting to see die? Yep. Some kind of 
cute/irritating animal that half the audience wants to see live, and 
the other half wants to get eaten? On the list. The really cool-
seeming hearthrob who's actually hiding a coward inside? Right-O. 
The pilot(s) who manage to do something stupid to get killed so 
someone else has to save the day, but who go out in heroic fashion? 
You got it. And finally, the unlikely hero who pulls everyone's fat 
out of the fire, often someone other than the main star. Again, 
SoAP's got it. The movie was one long list of cliched character 
types. I kept half-expecting Jimmy "JJ" Walker or Vicki Lawrence to 
show up, and Captain Stubing to be flying the plane. But it's all 
good: you only need to know enough about the caricat--er, characters-
-to get a thrill when they get bitten.
> 
> And get bitten they do! The snakes, driven wild by some type of 
pheromone in a completely bogus plot, are crazed beyond belief. 
They're crawling faster than I can run, spitting venom, hissing, 
baring fangs, biting everything that moves.They even bite electrical 
wiring! Every body part imaginable—I mean *every* one—is pierced 
through by sharp teeth at some point in the flick. The slimy 
creatures even manage to crawl inside one persons skull through her 
eyeball socket! Think "Anaconda" but with a few dozen reptiles, and 
you get the idea. Who knew snakes could crawl up a flight of snares 
so fast?! Like I said, so nuts are they that they bite through key 
wiring in the avionics systems, causing all sorts of malfunctions. 
(Oh yeah: Major storm attacking the plane? Check. Major mechanical 
problems on said plane? Check, and check). 
> 
> The movie stalls a bit now and then when they try to act, but fear 
not! We're always only seconds away from another bite or venom-spit 
scene. The action's fun and funny. Some of the scenes are a little 
gory, especially when dangling body parts get chomped, but it's more 
funny-silly gross than anything else. The group I went with—even 
those who were squeamish—was laughing a lot, as were the people in 
the theatre. Sam Jackson is pitch-perfect in his B-movie role. He's 

Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Saw "Snakes on a Plane"

[KeithBJohnson]

The sad thing is it didn't do the box office they hoped to get. The studio was 
hoping for twenty mill, and it took in around fifteen. I think two things hurt 
it: perhaps a little too much self-conscious hype of "This is a growing 
phenomenon", combined with an extremely simplistic plot that didn't turn some 
on, and (more importantly) turned many off, as lots and lots of folks I knew 
just couldn't sit through even a camp film with snakes. I can't blame 'em, as I 
never saw "Arachnophia"--and I never will. Don't care if Kenya Moore and 
Charisma Carpenter both showed up in it butt nekkid, I ain't paying to see a 
spider flick!
-- Original message -- 
From: "g123curious" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
Congrats on a thorough, well-written movie review. And since 
Americans will watch just about anything, congrats to Samuel Jackson 
on an excellent payday. I'll pass on seeing this dribble.

George

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> This movie had more cheese than the whole state of Wisconsin! It 
was cheesy, camp, corny, overdone, overblown, melodramatic, stupid, 
silly, forced, full of gratuitous nudity and gore--and I LOVED 
it! "SoAP", as Sam Jackson says, tells you up front what it's about. 
It's not Shakespeare, not even trying to be as serious as the 
great '70s disaster flicks like "Airport" or "The Poseidon 
Adventure", which actually were intended to be real dramas, no 
matter how we remember them. No, "Snakes" was obviously conceived, 
written, and directed to be a silly movie. The first scenes were 
over the top. I won't spoil it for y'all who haven't seen it, but 
the bad guy is so bad he might as well have worn a moustache to 
twirl. Of course he's a hands-on kind of leader (think Robert 
DeNiro's famous "Batter up!" scene in "The Untouchables" and you get 
the idea). He's so bad he's funny. And of course since he's Asian, 
we get treated to a completely unnecessary scene of him oiled down, 
muscles glistening, as he beats the crap out of a sparring partner 
during a martial arts training session. (Don't all Asian criminals 
practice martial arts in between dealing drugs and killing 
government witnesses?)
> 
> Then the film uses the old staple long used by disaster flicks 
and shows like "the Love Boat": introduce a whole bunch of 
characters in quick succession, only giving sketch profiles of each. 
The background info is very surface--just enough to be useful later 
when they die. For example, there's *always* a kid or two in an 
airplane disaster flick who's traveling without parents for the 
first time, so you can later "ooh" and "ahh" at how brave they are. 
SoAP had 'em. There's always the dude who's so terrified of flying 
he's a basket case. Again, got one in this flick. The randy young 
couple who's gonna get offed while their clothes are off and they're 
doing something nasty? Check. The obnoxious jerk who everyone in the 
audience is just waiting to see die? Yep. Some kind of 
cute/irritating animal that half the audience wants to see live, and 
the other half wants to get eaten? On the list. The really cool-
seeming hearthrob who's actually hiding a coward inside? Right-O. 
The pilot(s) who manage to do something stupid to get killed so 
someone else has to save the day, but who go out in heroic fashion? 
You got it. And finally, the unlikely hero who pulls everyone's fat 
out of the fire, often someone other than the main star. Again, 
SoAP's got it. The movie was one long list of cliched character 
types. I kept half-expecting Jimmy "JJ" Walker or Vicki Lawrence to 
show up, and Captain Stubing to be flying the plane. But it's all 
good: you only need to know enough about the caricat--er, characters-
-to get a thrill when they get bitten.
> 
> And get bitten they do! The snakes, driven wild by some type of 
pheromone in a completely bogus plot, are crazed beyond belief. 
They're crawling faster than I can run, spitting venom, hissing, 
baring fangs, biting everything that moves.They even bite electrical 
wiring! Every body part imaginable—I mean *every* one—is pierced 
through by sharp teeth at some point in the flick. The slimy 
creatures even manage to crawl inside one persons skull through her 
eyeball socket! Think "Anaconda" but with a few dozen reptiles, and 
you get the idea. Who knew snakes could crawl up a flight of snares 
so fast?! Like I said, so nuts are they that they bite through key 
wiring in the avionics systems, causing all sorts of malfunctions. 
(Oh yeah: Major storm attacking the plane? Check. Major mechanical 
problems on said plane? Check, and check). 
> 
> The movie stalls a bit now and then when they try to act, but fear 
not! We're always only seconds away from another bite or venom-spit 
scene. The action's fun and funny. Some of the scenes are a little 
gory, especially when dangling body parts get chomped, but it's more 
funny-silly gross than anything else. The group I went with—even 
those who were squeam

[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[g123curious]

As I read the article below, Gray's comments reminded me of the 
movie, "Memoirs of a Geisha" what had several Chinese actors 
portraying Japanese characters. The actors were all fine actors but 
this film's casting approach pissed off people, too.

George
Captain
USS McNair

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly 
Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> 
> 
>  Original Message 
> Subject:  [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
> From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To:   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 
> 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
> 
> Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
> A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has 
some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character 
in a Hollywood film.
> http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-
gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg
> 
> Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
>
> *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority 
police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver 
Stone's movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to 
portray Thomas. **
>
> 
> This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two 
former Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will 
Jimeno and John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, 
broken concrete and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 
attacks. In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom 
Cruise's cousin and who played Ethan Rom in the first season 
of "Lost" and Quecreek miner John "Flathead" Phillippi in ABC's "The 
Pennsylvania Miners' Story" -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
>
> Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named 
Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his 
story. "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," Thomas told the 
Associated Press. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this 
training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in 
need.' "
>
> So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of 
Criminal Justice at City University of New York that fateful 
morning, he headed toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran 
into another ex-Marine and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David 
Karnes, and the two decided to search for survivors. Eventually they 
found Jimeno and McLoughlin. Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 
911 from his cell phone at ground zero, called his sister in 
Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay information to New York 
emergency services that helped them pinpoint the trapped men's 
location.
>
> Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial 
inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after 
production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. That 
apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who 
sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list 
serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday 
calling for a boycott of the film.
>
> "You want to apologize to me?" Mr. Gray says. "Stop it."
>
> Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in 
popular culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so 
arises, they should be, he says. "It's so natural for Hollywood to 
assume that every hero is a white man," Mr. Gray wrote in his e-
mail. "Hollywood has always changed facts and edited history. From 
Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. They are 
only continuing their tradition of whitewashing our history."
>
> He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. 
The Jewish community's mantra is "never forget" while the black 
community's mantra is "forgive and forget," he said. The black 
community should speak up every time this happens. Six years ago, 
there was a similar controversy surrounding color-blind casting in 
the film "Pay It Forward." Kevin Spacey's white burn victim in the 
movie actually was a black Vietnam veteran in the book.
>
> Though disappointed his character in the "World Trade Center" 
movie wasn't black, Thomas, who lived on Long Island during the 
attacks and now works as an officer in Ohio's Supreme Court, told 
the Associated Press he's not upset. "I don't want to shed any 
negativity on what they were trying to show," he said.
>
> The movie is much bigger than him, Thomas told the New Pittsburgh 
Courier, and it's the people who lost their lives who need to 
remembered.
>-0-








 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
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[EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*

[scifinoir2] Re: Saw "Snakes on a Plane"

[g123curious]

Congrats on a thorough, well-written movie review. And since 
Americans will watch just about anything, congrats to Samuel Jackson 
on an excellent payday. I'll pass on seeing this dribble.

George

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> This movie had more cheese than the whole state of Wisconsin! It 
was cheesy, camp, corny, overdone, overblown, melodramatic, stupid, 
silly, forced, full of gratuitous nudity and gore--and I LOVED 
it! "SoAP", as Sam Jackson says, tells you up front what it's about. 
It's not Shakespeare, not even trying to be as serious as the 
great '70s disaster flicks like "Airport" or "The Poseidon 
Adventure", which actually were intended to be real dramas, no 
matter how we remember them. No, "Snakes" was obviously conceived, 
written, and directed to be a silly movie. The first scenes were 
over the top. I won't spoil it for y'all who haven't seen it, but 
the bad guy is so bad he might as well have worn a moustache to 
twirl. Of course he's a hands-on kind of leader (think Robert 
DeNiro's famous "Batter up!" scene in "The Untouchables" and you get 
the idea). He's so bad he's funny. And of course since he's Asian, 
we get treated to a completely unnecessary scene of him oiled down, 
muscles glistening, as he beats the crap out of a sparring partner 
during a martial arts training session. (Don't all Asian criminals 
practice martial arts in between dealing drugs and killing 
government witnesses?)
>  
>  Then the film uses the old staple long used by disaster flicks 
and shows like "the Love Boat": introduce a whole bunch of 
characters in quick succession, only giving sketch profiles of each. 
The background info is very surface--just enough to be useful later 
when they die. For example, there's *always* a kid or two in an 
airplane disaster flick who's traveling without parents for the 
first time, so you can later "ooh" and "ahh" at how brave they are.  
SoAP had 'em. There's always the dude who's so terrified of flying 
he's a basket case. Again, got one in this flick. The randy young 
couple who's gonna get offed while their clothes are off and they're 
doing something nasty? Check. The obnoxious jerk who everyone in the 
audience is just waiting to see die? Yep. Some kind of 
cute/irritating animal that half the audience wants to see live, and 
the other half wants to get eaten? On the list. The really cool-
seeming hearthrob who's actually hiding a coward inside? Right-O.  
The pilot(s) who manage to do something stupid to get killed so 
someone else has to save the day, but who go out in heroic fashion? 
You got it. And finally, the unlikely hero who pulls everyone's fat 
out of the fire, often someone other than the main star. Again, 
SoAP's got it. The movie was one long list of cliched character 
types. I kept half-expecting Jimmy "JJ" Walker or Vicki Lawrence to 
show up, and Captain Stubing to be flying the plane. But it's all 
good: you only need to know enough about the caricat--er, characters-
-to get a thrill when they get bitten.
> 
> And get bitten they do! The snakes, driven wild by some type of 
pheromone in a completely bogus plot, are crazed beyond belief. 
They're crawling faster than I can run, spitting venom, hissing, 
baring fangs, biting everything that moves.They even bite electrical 
wiring! Every body part imaginable—I mean *every* one—is pierced 
through by sharp teeth at some point in the flick. The slimy 
creatures even manage to crawl inside one persons skull through her 
eyeball socket! Think "Anaconda" but with a few dozen reptiles, and 
you get the idea. Who knew snakes could crawl up a flight of snares 
so fast?! Like I said, so nuts are they that they bite through key 
wiring in the avionics systems, causing all sorts of malfunctions. 
(Oh yeah: Major storm attacking the plane? Check. Major mechanical 
problems on said plane? Check, and check).  
>  
> The movie stalls a bit now and then when they try to act, but fear 
not! We're always only seconds away from another bite or venom-spit 
scene. The action's fun and funny. Some of the scenes are a little 
gory, especially when dangling body parts get chomped, but it's more 
funny-silly gross than anything else. The group I went with—even 
those who were squeamish—was laughing a lot, as were the people in 
the theatre. Sam Jackson is pitch-perfect in his B-movie role. He's 
not as over-the-top corny as I expected. The "I'm sick of this 
muthafu*** snakes..." line was funny, but i wanted a few more of 
them. Jackson's playing the role fairly straight. Come to think of 
it, with given all the comic carnage surrounding him, is actually 
probably a good move. But that mug, those facial expressions, and 
that voice? They're perfect. The rest of the case is appropriately 
anonymous and unmemorable. After all, they're only props to move the 
action along. The FX were decent. Some of the snakes were ob
> vious fakes—I'm from Texas and I know snakes, but can't ever 
remember 

[scifinoir2] Saw "Snakes on a Plane"

[KeithBJohnson]

This movie had more cheese than the whole state of Wisconsin! It was cheesy, 
camp, corny, overdone, overblown, melodramatic, stupid, silly, forced, full of 
gratuitous nudity and gore--and I LOVED it!   "SoAP", as Sam Jackson says, 
tells you up front what it's about. It's not Shakespeare, not even trying to be 
as serious as the great '70s disaster flicks like "Airport" or "The Poseidon 
Adventure", which actually were intended to be real dramas, no matter how we 
remember them.  No, "Snakes" was obviously conceived, written, and directed to 
be a silly movie. The first scenes were over the top. I won't spoil it for 
y'all who haven't seen it, but the bad guy is so bad he might as well have worn 
a moustache to twirl. Of course he's a hands-on kind of leader (think Robert 
DeNiro's famous "Batter up!" scene in "The Untouchables" and you get the idea). 
He's so bad he's funny. And of course since he's Asian, we get treated to a 
completely unnecessary scene of him oiled down, muscles glisteni
ng, as he beats the crap out of a sparring partner during a martial arts 
training session. (Don't all Asian criminals practice martial arts in between 
dealing drugs and killing government witnesses?)
 
 Then the film uses the old staple long used by disaster flicks and shows like 
"the Love Boat": introduce a whole bunch of characters in quick succession, 
only giving sketch profiles of each. The background info is very surface--just 
enough to be useful later when they die. For example, there's *always* a kid or 
two in an airplane disaster flick who's traveling without parents for the first 
time, so you can later "ooh" and "ahh" at how brave they are.  SoAP had 'em.  
There's always the dude who's so terrified of flying he's a basket case. Again, 
got one in this flick. The randy young couple who's gonna get offed while their 
clothes are off and they're doing something nasty? Check.   The obnoxious jerk 
who everyone in the audience is just waiting to see die? Yep.  Some kind of 
cute/irritating animal that half the audience wants to see live, and the other 
half wants to get eaten?  On the list. The really  cool-seeming hearthrob who's 
actually hiding a coward inside? Right-O.  The pil
ot(s) who manage to do something stupid to get killed so someone else has to 
save the day, but who go out in heroic fashion?.  You got it.  And finally, the 
unlikely hero who pulls everyone's fat out of the fire, often someone other 
than the main star. Again, SoAP's got it.  The movie was one long list of 
cliched character types. I kept half-expecting Jimmy "JJ" Walker or Vicki 
Lawrence to show up, and Captain Stubing to be flying the plane. But it's all 
good: you only need to know enough about the caricat--er, characters--to get a 
thrill when they get bitten.
 
And get bitten they do! The snakes, driven wild by some type of pheromone in a 
completely bogus plot, are crazed beyond belief. They’re crawling faster than I 
can run, spitting venom, hissing, baring fangs, biting everything that 
moves.They even bite electrical wiring!  Every body part imaginable—I mean 
*every* one—is pierced through by sharp teeth at some point in the flick.  The 
slimy creatures even manage to crawl inside one persons skull through her 
eyeball socket!   Think “Anaconda” but with a few dozen reptiles, and you get 
the idea. Who knew snakes could crawl up a flight of snares so fast?!  Like I 
said, so nuts are they that they bite through key wiring in the avionics 
systems, causing all sorts of malfunctions. (Oh yeah: Major storm attacking the 
plane? Check.  Major mechanical problems on said plane? Check, and check).  
 
The movie stalls a bit now and then when they try to act, but fear not! We’re 
always only seconds away from another bite or venom-spit scene. The action’s 
fun and funny. Some of the scenes are a little gory, especially when dangling 
body parts get chomped, but it’s more funny-silly gross than anything else. The 
group I went with—even those who were squeamish—was laughing a lot, as were the 
people in the theatre. Sam Jackson is pitch-perfect in his B-movie role. He's 
not as over-the-top corny as I expected. The "I'm sick of this muthafu*** 
snakes..." line was funny, but i wanted a few more of them. Jackson's playing 
the role fairly straight. Come to think of it, with given all the comic carnage 
surrounding him, is actually probably a good move. But that mug, those facial 
expressions, and that voice? They're perfect. The rest of the case is 
appropriately anonymous and unmemorable. After all, they’re only props to move 
the action along.   The FX were decent. Some of the snakes were ob
vious fakes—I’m from Texas and I know snakes, but can’t ever remember seeing 
rattlers with almost human looking expressions of rage! But it wasn’t 
distracting, and not nearly as bad as the CGI snake in “Anaconda”. 
 
SoAP is a pretty good homage to all the serious and not-so-serious disaster 
flicks of past years, mixing elements fr

Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[KeithBJohnson]

Are you trying to tell me that the NYC firefighters actually claimed that 
*none* of the hundreds of firefighters on the scenes were Black??? That can't 
be possible.  What about all the cops, Port Authority, transportation cops 
pressed into service, medics, doctors, etc? Got any links to this particular 
bit of info?

-- Original message -- 
From: "ravenadal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC took
from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911 monument
with one of the memorialized firefighters being black. The
firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were black
this would be the worse form of politcial correctness.

~(no)rave! 

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly
Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> 
> 
>  Original Message 
> Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
> From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
> 
> Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
> A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has some 
> people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a 
> Hollywood film.
> 


> 
> Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
> *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police 
> officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's 
> movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to portray
Thomas. **
> Click photo for larger image.*
> 
> This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former 
> Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno
and 
> John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete 
> and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
> In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin 
> and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of "Lost" and Quecreek 
> miner John "Flathead" Phillippi in ABC's "The Pennsylvania Miners' 
> Story" -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
> Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason 
> Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story.
> "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," Thomas told the Associated 
> Press. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a 
> Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' "
> So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal 
> Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed 
> toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine 
> and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two
decided 
> to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin.
> Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at
ground 
> zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay 
> information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint
the 
> trapped men's location.
> Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial 
> inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after 
> production had already begun, the Associated Press reported.
> That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who 
> sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list 
> serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday 
> calling for a boycott of the film.
> "You want to apologize to me?" Mr. Gray says. "Stop it."
> Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in popular 
> culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so arises, they 
> should be, he says.
> "It's so natural for Hollywood to assume that every hero is a white 
> man," Mr. Gray wrote in his e-mail. "Hollywood has always changed facts 
> and edited history. From Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor 
> as Cleopatra. They are only continuing their tradition of whitewashing 
> our history."
> He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. The 
> Jewish community's mantra is "never forget" while the black community's 
> mantra is "forgive and forget," he said. The black community should 
> speak up every time this happens.
> Six years ago, there was a similar controversy surrounding color-blind 
> casting in the film "Pay It Forward." Kevin Spacey's white burn victim 
> in the movie actually was a black Vietnam veteran in the book.
> Though disappointed his character in the "World Trade Center" movie 
> wasn't black, Thomas, who lived on Long Island dur

[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[ravenadal]

I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC took
from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911 monument
with one of the memorialized firefighters being black.  The
firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were black
this would be the worse form of politcial correctness.

~(no)rave!  

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly
Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> 
> 
>  Original Message 
> Subject:  [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
> From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To:   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
> 
> Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
> A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has some 
> people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a 
> Hollywood film.
> 


> 
>   Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
> *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police 
> officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's 
> movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to portray
Thomas. **
> Click photo for larger image.*
> 
> This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former 
> Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno
and 
> John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete 
> and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
> In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin 
> and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of "Lost" and Quecreek 
> miner John "Flathead" Phillippi in ABC's "The Pennsylvania Miners' 
> Story" -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
> Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason 
> Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story.
> "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," Thomas told the Associated 
> Press. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a 
> Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' "
> So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal 
> Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed 
> toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine 
> and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two
decided 
> to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin.
> Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at
ground 
> zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay 
> information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint
the 
> trapped men's location.
> Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial 
> inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after 
> production had already begun, the Associated Press reported.
> That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who 
> sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list 
> serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday 
> calling for a boycott of the film.
> "You want to apologize to me?" Mr. Gray says. "Stop it."
> Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in popular 
> culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so arises, they 
> should be, he says.
> "It's so natural for Hollywood to assume that every hero is a white 
> man," Mr. Gray wrote in his e-mail. "Hollywood has always changed facts 
> and edited history. From Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor 
> as Cleopatra. They are only continuing their tradition of whitewashing 
> our history."
> He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. The 
> Jewish community's mantra is "never forget" while the black community's 
> mantra is "forgive and forget," he said. The black community should 
> speak up every time this happens.
> Six years ago, there was a similar controversy surrounding color-blind 
> casting in the film "Pay It Forward." Kevin Spacey's white burn victim 
> in the movie actually was a black Vietnam veteran in the book.
> Though disappointed his character in the "World Trade Center" movie 
> wasn't black, Thomas, who lived on Long Island during the attacks and 
> now works as an officer in Ohio's Supreme Court, told the Associated 
> Press he's not upset.
> "I don't want to shed any negativity on what they were trying to show," 
> he said.
> The movie is much bigger than him, Thomas told the New Pittsburgh 
> Courier, and it's the people who lost their lives who need to
remembered.
>






 
Yahoo! Grou

[scifinoir2] Re: Holy windfall, Batman!

[ravenadal]

Reminds me of that great dark comedy "Comic Book Villians" starring
Donal Logue, Cary Elwes and Michael Rapaport.

Told from the point of view from Archie a comic book collector, this
is the story of a rivalry between two comic book shop owners. One
(Logue) does it for the love of comics, while the other shop, run by a
husband-and-wife team are in it strictly for the money. The situation
brews to a head when a sneak collector discovers a large collection of
perfectly-preserved classic comics, leading the two shops to vie to
acquire them, along with a "villain" (Elwes) who hopes to steal them
first.

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "brent wodehouse"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060818.wxcomics19/BNStory/Front/home
> 
> Holy windfall, Batman!
> 
> INGRID PERITZ
> 
> From Saturday's Globe and Mail
> 
> 
> Montreal - Tom Crippen knew he faced a daunting task after the death of
> his father, an inveterate pack rat who never threw anything out. It
wasn't
> just the stockpiles of old opera programs, paper clips, Christmas cards,
> baseball caps, paperbacks or souvenir coffee mugs.
> 
> Mainly, it was the awesome collection of 11,000 comics that had
colonized
> the family garage and basement.
> 
> "The shelves were just piled high with comics," said Mr. Crippen, a
> freelance editor living in Montreal. "I knew they were worth money,
but I
> thought, $50,000, maybe $100,000."
> 
> Mr. Crippen was wrong. After painstakingly dusting off and
cataloguing the
> comics - a process that took four months - he called in the experts
to the
> family home outside New York.
> 
> And - Holy windfall, Batman! - the superheroes delivered.
> 
> The cache of vintage comics, many of them rare and in immaculate
> condition, were evaluated at $2.5-million (U.S.).
> 
> "When they told me, it just made my jaw drop," Mr. Crippen said. "The
> comic books were literally worth more than the house itself."
> 
> He got a glimpse of his newfound fortune last week when Heritage Auction
> Galleries in Dallas sold off a first batch of 550 comics. By the
time the
> final gavel fell, Mr. Crippen, his mother and brother were $717,000
richer.
> 
> The highest price went to a 1944 Suspense Comics book with a campy cover
> of a bound woman surrounded by hooded Nazis. Originally purchased by
Davis
> Crippen for a dime, it sold for $47,800.
> 
> A 1940 Detective Comic, in which Batman puts in one of his earliest
> appearances, rang up at $17,925.
> 
> "We realized there was so much money involved," Mr. Crippen said,
"that it
> could change all our lives."
> 
> His father had indeed left his family a legacy - a legacy that he had
> started to build when he was an eight-year-old boy in Washington. For
> reasons known only to himself, Davis Crippen soon decided to buy and
save
> every comic book that came out, and he didn't let up for 15 years.
> 
> He got his mother to continue the purchases when he headed off for
> graduate work at the London School of Economics, and didn't stop himself
> until he was drafted into the army. By the time he was through, Mr.
> Crippen, who edited technical manuals for a living, had stashed away a
> gold mine.
> 
> "He not only kept them, he kept them in remarkably good condition," John
> Petty, founding director of Heritage Auction's comics division, said
in an
> interview from Dallas.
> 
> "I'm afraid the well is running dry, so finding something like this is
> very exciting. This is the biggest find in years."
> 
> The comics date to what aficionados call the Golden Age of comics, which
> lasted from the late thirties to mid-fifties and marked the birth of
some
> of our most enduring pop heroes, from Superman and Batman to the Flash.
> 
> One person Tom Crippen confided in about his father's collection was
Marc
> Jetté, a friend who owns the Studio 9 comic shop in Montreal. When he
> raised it in 2005, Mr. Jetté instantly spotted the potential; he was so
> excited, he invited Mr. Crippen to address a gathering about the
> collection at his store.
> 
> "I said to myself, he's sleeping on a gold mine," he said. "This is a
> collection from the Golden Age and these are superheroes. They're comics
> that are mythical and rare. It was a treasure trove."
> 
> Mr. Crippen raised the issue of selling the comics with his father a few
> months before he died last year at age 75, but it became clear that the
> elder Crippen didn't want to part with them. So Tom Crippen let it drop.
> 
> Hoarding was just something that Davis Crippen did. Cynthia Crippen said
> she let her late husband amass his various collections as long as they
> didn't spill into common spaces.
> 
> "The comics were always there but not in my sight," said Mrs.
Crippen, who
> works as a book indexer. "I ignored it. People would tell me I
should sell
> them, but I knew it was important to him. I loved him; he was a
wonderful
> man despite his eccentricities."
> 
> Unfortunately, this comic-book story does have

[scifinoir2] [Fwd: Eric La Salle's new tv projects]

[Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)]

 Original Message 
Subject:Eric La Salle's new tv projects
Date:   Mon, 21 Aug 2006 05:57:43 -0400
From:   C V <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To:   GIRLFRIEND <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]



ERIC LA SALLE BRINGS TWO PROJECTS TO TV: "ER" vet behind sitcom for
NBC and crime drama for CBS.
(August 21, 2006)


  *Amidst the hollow absence of television dramas starring
African Americans in lead roles next season, former "ER" star Eric La
Salle is hoping to stem the tide with a new drama from his own
production banner, Humble Journey.

  CBS has purchased La Salle's "25 to Life," a crime drama that
will also star the actor as FBI agent Gabriel Santana.  The premise
follows federal agents who work with criminals to solve cases.

  The show represents the first major development to come out of
La Salle's talent and production deal with CBS Paramount Network,
which was signed last year.

  In addition, NBC has given a script commitment to "The Four
Next Door," a Humble Journey comedy centered on the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse. War, Famine, Pestilence and Death – as referenced in
Revelations, Chapter 6 of the Bible – arrive on earth a decade too
soon for the end of the world and are forced to blend in among humans.






 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

Re: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Couldn't agree more that changing from black to white is a very bad thing.
Amy


> It's these subtle ways the larger society Blacks of bits of self-esteem 
> that they have all around them. It's why I still support Black-focused 
> media. I get sick of people asking me the age-old question, "Why do y'all 
> have to have Ebony and Essence, Miss Black America, or HBCU's? White 
> people don't have organizations that have 'White' in the title".  Stuff 
> like this continually points out the word "white" doesn't have to be added 
> because it's just assumed. It be like me saying, "The Sun is pretty bright 
> today". You gonna turn around and ask me which sun I'm talking about? 
> Sirius? Betelguese? Proxima Centauri?? No, you know I mean "Sol" and when 
> most whites hear "hero", "love interest", "genius", "leader", etc., they 
> just slap a white face on it.
>
>
> That being said, why do you think the movie's a bad idea overall? I think 
> it's a good idea to remember the tragedy through a well-done film. I don't 
> think it's too soon--frankly, it'll never be long enough for some. I know 
> the documentaries are good, but dramas can focus on things in different 
> ways.  It's like movies dealing with race riots or police brutality 
> against Blacks: hard as they are to watch, I want to experience them.
>
> -- Original message -- 
> From: Daryle Lockhart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> Two things about this film: One, and probably most importantly, it
> simply did not need to be made. It's in bad taste, and there's no way
> to put it out without pissing SOMEBODY off. There are documentaries
> already. That's enough. It was just five years ago. Anyone who
> doesn't remember what happens should be GLAD.
>
> Secondly, this "error" should not surprise ANYone. How many ways do
> we need to be told that Hollywood does not see us as human beings? If
> we're not Will Smith, or some hypersexual or socially obsolete
> caricature, we serve no purpose in Hollywood. THIS is why we need to
> be telling our own stories, and, I hate to say it, folks, but we
> need to be telling them outside of the Hollywood system. This is a
> system that couldn't keep Star Trek going after Gene died, does
> Transformer movies without Soundwave, and KEEPS giving Mickey Roarke
> work. WE are the LAST if its concerns. Hollywood applauds our
> weaknesses and tells us that "nobody wants to go see" our
> strengths. Unless, of course, our strength is us taking our shirt off.
>
> This WTC movie is a bad idea and should serve as a lesson to "how far
> we've come".
>
> On Aug 20, 2006, at 9:13 AM, Keith Johnson wrote:
>
> I respect Mr. Thomas' graciousness, but this is a big deal. I find it
> hard
> to believe this was a simple mistake. When researching roles, don't the
> producers look up peoples' records, verify their address, name, and
> other
> statistics? Don't they talk to friends and associates? Don't they try
> to get
> pictures of them? How do you cast a role based on a living person and
> not in
> in shape form or fashion realize he's Black?
> I think this does need to be talked about loudly. Doing so doesn't
> diminish
> from the heroism around 9-11, but not doing so simply creates more
> victims
> of another type of terrorist act: that of white America to continually
> diminish Blacks in this country.
>
> _
>
> From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
> Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
> Sent: Thursday, 17 August, 2006 23:58
> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; GIRLFRIEND;
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
>
>  Original Message 
> Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
> From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>  RR.COM>
> Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>  RR.COM>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]  MUOHIO.EDU
>
> 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
>
> Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> http://www.post- 
> gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
> A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has some
> people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a
> Hollywood film.
>   gazette.com/image
> s4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg>
> gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-gazette.com/
> images4/20060815ap_wtc
> hero_450.jpg>
>
> Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
> *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police
> officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's
> movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to portray

Re: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[KeithBJohnson]

It's these subtle ways the larger society Blacks of bits of self-esteem that 
they have all around them. It's why I still support Black-focused media. I get 
sick of people asking me the age-old question, "Why do y'all have to have Ebony 
and Essence, Miss Black America, or HBCU's? White people don't have 
organizations that have 'White' in the title".  Stuff like this continually 
points out the word "white" doesn't have to be added because it's just assumed. 
It be like me saying, "The Sun is pretty bright today". You gonna turn around 
and ask me which sun I'm talking about? Sirius? Betelguese? Proxima Centauri?? 
No, you know I mean "Sol" and when most whites hear "hero", "love interest", 
"genius", "leader", etc., they just slap a white face on it.


That being said, why do you think the movie's a bad idea overall? I think it's 
a good idea to remember the tragedy through a well-done film. I don't think 
it's too soon--frankly, it'll never be long enough for some. I know the 
documentaries are good, but dramas can focus on things in different ways.  It's 
like movies dealing with race riots or police brutality against Blacks: hard as 
they are to watch, I want to experience them.

-- Original message -- 
From: Daryle Lockhart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 

Two things about this film: One, and probably most importantly, it 
simply did not need to be made. It's in bad taste, and there's no way 
to put it out without pissing SOMEBODY off. There are documentaries 
already. That's enough. It was just five years ago. Anyone who 
doesn't remember what happens should be GLAD.

Secondly, this "error" should not surprise ANYone. How many ways do 
we need to be told that Hollywood does not see us as human beings? If 
we're not Will Smith, or some hypersexual or socially obsolete 
caricature, we serve no purpose in Hollywood. THIS is why we need to 
be telling our own stories, and, I hate to say it, folks, but we 
need to be telling them outside of the Hollywood system. This is a 
system that couldn't keep Star Trek going after Gene died, does 
Transformer movies without Soundwave, and KEEPS giving Mickey Roarke 
work. WE are the LAST if its concerns. Hollywood applauds our 
weaknesses and tells us that "nobody wants to go see" our 
strengths. Unless, of course, our strength is us taking our shirt off.

This WTC movie is a bad idea and should serve as a lesson to "how far 
we've come".

On Aug 20, 2006, at 9:13 AM, Keith Johnson wrote:

I respect Mr. Thomas' graciousness, but this is a big deal. I find it 
hard
to believe this was a simple mistake. When researching roles, don't the
producers look up peoples' records, verify their address, name, and 
other
statistics? Don't they talk to friends and associates? Don't they try 
to get
pictures of them? How do you cast a role based on a living person and 
not in
in shape form or fashion realize he's Black?
I think this does need to be talked about loudly. Doing so doesn't 
diminish
from the heroism around 9-11, but not doing so simply creates more 
victims
of another type of terrorist act: that of white America to continually
diminish Blacks in this country.

_

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Thursday, 17 August, 2006 23:58
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; GIRLFRIEND;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

 Original Message 
Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 RR.COM>
Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 RR.COM>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]  MUOHIO.EDU

'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post- 
gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has some
people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a
Hollywood film.

gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-gazette.com/ 
images4/20060815ap_wtc
hero_450.jpg>

Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
*Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police
officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's
movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to portray 
Thomas. **
Click photo for larger image.*

This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former
Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and
John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete
and spark

[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[g123curious]

Wow! Arrogant and very insulting. What other "facts" did the movie 
makers miss?

George

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly 
Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> 
> 
>  Original Message 
> Subject:  [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
> From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To:   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
> 
> Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
> A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has 
some 
> people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a 
> Hollywood film.
>    
> 









 
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Re: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

[Daryle Lockhart]

Two things about this film: One, and probably most importantly, it  
simply did not need to be made. It's in bad taste, and there's no way  
to put it out without pissing SOMEBODY off. There are documentaries  
already. That's enough. It was just five years ago. Anyone who   
doesn't remember what happens should be GLAD.

Secondly, this "error" should not surprise ANYone. How many ways do  
we need to be told that Hollywood does not see us as human beings? If  
we're not Will Smith, or some hypersexual or socially obsolete  
caricature, we serve no purpose in Hollywood. THIS is why we need to  
be telling our own stories, and, I hate to say it, folks,  but we  
need to be telling them outside of the Hollywood system. This is a  
system that couldn't keep Star Trek going after Gene died, does  
Transformer movies without Soundwave, and KEEPS giving Mickey Roarke  
work. WE are the LAST if its concerns. Hollywood applauds our  
weaknesses and tells us that  "nobody  wants to go see" our  
strengths. Unless, of course, our strength is us taking our shirt off.

This WTC movie is a bad idea and should serve as a lesson to "how far  
we've come".

On Aug 20, 2006, at 9:13 AM, Keith Johnson wrote:

I respect Mr. Thomas' graciousness, but this is a big deal. I find it  
hard
to believe this was a simple mistake. When researching roles, don't the
producers look up peoples' records, verify their address, name, and  
other
statistics? Don't they talk to friends and associates? Don't they try  
to get
pictures of them? How do you cast a role based on a living person and  
not in
in shape form or fashion realize he's Black?
I think this does need to be talked about loudly. Doing so doesn't  
diminish
from the heroism around 9-11, but not doing so simply creates more  
victims
of another type of terrorist act: that of white America to continually
diminish Blacks in this country.

_

From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)
Sent: Thursday, 17 August, 2006 23:58
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; GIRLFRIEND;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]

 Original Message 
Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 RR.COM>
Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 RR.COM>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]  MUOHIO.EDU

'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post- 
gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has some
people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a
Hollywood film.

gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-gazette.com/ 
images4/20060815ap_wtc
hero_450.jpg>

Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
*Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police
officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's
movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to portray  
Thomas. **
Click photo for larger image.*

This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former
Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and
John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete
and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin
and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of "Lost" and Quecreek
miner John "Flathead" Phillippi in ABC's "The Pennsylvania Miners'
Story" -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason
Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story.
"Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," Thomas told the Associated
Press. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a
Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' "
So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal
Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed
toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine
and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two decided
to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin.
Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at ground
zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay
information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint the
trapped men's location.
Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the raci

[scifinoir2] Fw: Colourful Stories: Fantastic Fiction by African Descended Authors Article by Nisi Shawl published in Vector

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Passing this on - a MUST read!
Cheers!
Amy


> Hi all,
>
> Thought you might be interested in this article by Nisi Shawl which my 
> co-editor and I recently published in Vector, the critical journal of the 
> British Science Fiction Association (BSFA). The article is called 
> "Colourful Stories: Fantastic Fiction by African Descended Authors" and an 
> online version can be found here:
> http://www.vector-magazine.co.uk/article.asp?articleID=17
>
> Thanks very much to Nisi for agreeing to write for us. We are always 
> interested in hearing new proposals or submissions for features, so if 
> anyone on this list has ideas for non-fiction articles on any topic 
> relating to speculative fiction, my co-editor and I would love to hear 
> from you. We have an upcoming issue dedicated to the theme of Cities, so 
> would be particularly interested in critical writing relating to sf and 
> fantasy cities, but we're open to all sorts of other ideas too. Email us 
> at [EMAIL PROTECTED] The BSFA is an amateur organisation, so 
> unfortunately we are unable to pay our contributors.
>
> Thanks,
> Geneva



 
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