I've always loved writing for a variety of reasons. It's a wholly creative endeavor, one in which I am able to create characters, the worlds they inhabit, and the events they experience. Call it a God complex if you like, but I've always enjoyed that sense of creation and control. Because I can see everything so clearly in my mind's eye, and also because I love movies so much, I figured that screenwriting would be the perfect medium to make use of my talents.

When I was younger, I had dreams of following in the footsteps of Black or Eszterhas, selling spec scripts for upwards of $3 million. In college, I bragged that I was going to become the Puff Daddy of Hollywood -- whatever that meant -- and take over the game. I almost came close once, actually. But then again, who hasn't "almost come close," right? Now that I'm older and wiser, however, I've come to accept that I may not sell that million dollar spec. It's not going to stop me from trying, but now my focus is more on honing my craft and writing so well that I'm offered assignments. So far, so ... well ... just so.

I'm currently working on something. Along with my writing partner T.S. Johnson, who maintains quite a few blogs over there in my Blogroll including the ever popular Brown Sugar, I've been working on a feature film treatment that, for the purposes of this blog, we'll call Monkey Business. Miss Johnson met with an indie producer down in Florida who didn't pitch an idea so much as give elements he wanted to see in a story. Some very silly elements, but whatevs. He's the money man, he's paying us to come up with something, so in the words of Young Jeezy, let's get it.

So we got it. A week after the initial meeting, Miss Johnson and I composed a pretty good story idea incorporating the elements and themes Mr. Producer wanted to explore. Sure, the actual logistics of the story needed working out, but the basic plot was there and as far as I'm concerned, that's all you need. I'm a big believer in the axiom that states if you know your ending, the story will write itself.

But Mr. Producer wasn't happy. And apparently he brought in another party who agreed that the direction we took the story wasn't where they wanted to go. Okay, then, nigga, well what do you want?

He tells us. Again, keeping the same elements and exploring the same themes but this time Mr. Producer is a little more explicit what he wants. So, it's back to the drawing board. Except Miss Johnson and I have no fucking idea where to go with this. Remember, it's a silly idea we're dealing with. And not Police Academy or Moving Violations silly -- no, this is I can't believe this is what he really wants us to write about silly.

This time, Miss Johnson and I divvied up the tasks. Based on what we had to work with, she devised a plot and framework, I created the characters. We meshed the components together, making sure all of the pieces fit together organically, and viola! we had another awesome treatment ready to hand in.

As of this writing, I'm not sure how Mr. Producer is going to react to the new idea we've come up with. But I can definitely say that this has been quite the crash course in dealing with someone who has no clue what the creative process entails but thinks they know more than you, the creative individual they hired for the gig. It reminds me of Kevin Smith's Superman Reborn debacle with the giant spider. Miss Johnson and I have joked that Monkey Business is our giant spider.

All in all, I think our silly idea can actually become something substantial. A fine piece of entertainment, a pithy and observant social commentary. Truth be told, I'm aching to move past this stage and get on with the writing. Until then, I'm still hammering away at my own stuff. Rewriting, polish, and starting new specs. To appropriate a phrase used by my homegirl SG, I can't sell it if I don't write it. So I'm writin' it.

Just wanted to vent. Thanks for reading. :)

Oh yeah: the "viola!" thing is an inside joke that very few people will get. I tried to find the image that corresponds to the joke, but alas I failed. Sadness engulfs me.

Oh, and click the Superman Reborn link. That shit's hilarious, and sad. "Every day with the fuckin' spider."

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Really, the folks at The New Yorker thought this was funny? Cancel my subscription, please.

The latest cover of this supposedly prestigious magazine has been pretty much widely acknowledged as tasteless and offensive, though New Yorker editor David Remnick would have you believe that it's simply "satire." His attempts to explain after the jump.

What I think it does is hold up a mirror to the prejudice and dark imaginings about Barack Obama's — both Obamas' — past, and their politics. I can't speak for anyone else's interpretations, all I can say is that it combines a number of images that have been propagated, not by everyone on the right but by some, about Obama's supposed "lack of patriotism" or his being "soft on terrorism" or the idiotic notion that somehow Michelle Obama is the second coming of the Weathermen or most violent Black Panthers.

However, Remnick is not at all concerned with what his readership thinks. Upon being told that some subscribers have thrown out their renewal cards and others simply won't be reading the rag anymore, the editor somewhat shrugs it off, saying, "It's not the first time."

I understand that this cover may have been meant as "satire," as commentary on the prejudices that some how against the Presidential hopeful, but I have to wonder where the editorial staff's sense of good taste went. Surely, they were aware that publishing this depiction of the Obamas would lead to some uproar, surely they must have known there was potential for this to be seen in a light other than the one that was intended. From where I stand, this illustration seems to only reinforce whatever unfounded fears people may have about the Senator. In the end, the whole thing comes off as a gross error in judgment.

But what else does this say? I mean, would we ever see a New Yorker cover depicting Sen. McCain in a similarly "satirical" manner? Given the magazine's reputation for being liberal and non-partisan, one would think so. Yet I don't think that would ever happen. At least McCain, through his spokespeople, has expressed disapproval over the cartoon.

Not surprisingly, there are some idiotic media outlets that are all "Get over it, this is being blown out of proportion!" -- namely, Radar, which happens to be co-owned by Yusef Jackson, son of castrating spokesman for all Negros, The Good Reverend Jesse Jackson. Things that make you go, "Hmmmmm."

Thanks to HuffPo, Gawker, Politico, and The Guardian. Oh, and "Racism for Breakfast" is not mine -- I stole that from Elliott Wilson.

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Whoops.

The Good Reverend Jesse Jackson made a slight boo-boo on Fox New's comedy show The O'Reilly Factor this past Sunday by proclaiming that he wanted to "cut [Barack Obama's] nuts off." Say what, say huh? Full insanity after the jump.

In yet another clear move to strip the King of Pop of the affectionate sobriquet "Wacko Jacko," the Good Reverend confides in fellow interviewee, UnitedHealth Group executive Dr. Reed V. Tuckson, while hot mic-ed on a Fox News program, whispering his displeasure with the Senator's views on faith-based programs and accusing the Democratic Presidential nominee of "talking down to black people." He then expresses his desire to "cut his nuts off," eyes glazed over, lower lip bitten in determination to see the task through.

You classless idiot. Even if you don't agree with Obama on the issue of faith-based initiatives, you don't make such proclamations while you are mic-ed in enemy territory. What, you think the kind souls at Fox News were just going to let it slide? You think Bill O'Reilly won't sandbag you by exploiting your little fifteen-second faux pas at least three times during the course of his television program? Dummy.

Of course, now The Good Reverend has realized the shit he's gotten himself into and issued an apology to Sen. Obama:

"It was very private," Jackson said, adding that if "any hurt or harm has been caused to his campaign, I apologize."

Even the Reverend's own son was ashamed and disgusted by this behavior:

"I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Rev. Jackson's reckless statements about Sen. Barack Obama," the younger Jackson said. "His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee -- and I believe the next president of the United States -- contradict his inspiring and courageous career."

Since I know many of you want to see the video, check out the YouTube video below, shake your head, and say it with me: "Black people, we must do better."



Propers to CNN, Bumpshack, YouTube, and Gawker

A young woman posted an ad on Craiglist in which she asks for help in locating a job for her ex-boyfriend Evan. You're thinking, Wow, what a nice girl. Even though they're no longer together, she's still willing to help Evan find a job.

Well, let's not start praising her for charitable goodwill just yet. This young woman has selfish, ulterior motives. According to the ad:

We made a deal that if I get him a job by passing around his resume he will leave the apartment that we share. It's a really nice place with cheap rent and I REALLY want to keep it.

Oh my! Got ourselves a little War of the Roses situation going on, do we? Okay, perhaps it's not as extreme as that, maybe it's more along the lines of that Vince Vaughn/Jennifer Aniston flick. Whatevs. Again, the situation is nothing too unusual, right? I mean, this is New York, after all!

But wait! There's more!

Just in case you aren't feeling her plight, you aren't too keen ..ing Evan find his way out of financial embarrassment and on the road to gainful employment, the ad poster has a little incentive for you. Her hot bod. Yep, if you are able to help these 'tards achieve the goal of finding Evan a job, the poster will sleep with you. As soon as Evan is out -- or maybe even sooner! (After all, she is a girl with needs.)

You can check out a full screen cap of the ad, which apparently has already been removed from the 'List, by clicking the image below:



This speaks volumes about the crumbling sense of morality in modern society, not to mention it shines a light on our country's unemployment problems and the difficulty in finding a decent and cheap apartment in NYC. And it seems to validate the old axiom regarding finding a job in this day and age. When it comes to finding a job, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And I mean that in the Biblical sense.

You can read this, and more, at Air Conditioning, the official blog of Jay Fingers.

One of the (more idiotic) things I'd read in regard to Lil Wayne and his latest opus Tha Carter III was that there was too much of Wayne's personality on the album. My reaction: .. I suppose people don't get it. We like our celebrities to be a type of "character." Outlandish personalities stand out. People gravitate to these unique and larger-than-life personas.

Sure, there may be more "skilled" rappers out there, but they're boringasthemotherfuck. If Black Thought ever drops a solo, it will never go (multi-)platinum because as a person Mr. Trotter is a colossal bore. That is not a diss, I'm not trying to take anything away from the Roots' frontman, but he doesn't stir the imagination, doesn't cause excitement in the masses.

But someone like Wayne — or Cam'ron, or 50 Cent, or Kanye West — they attain that level of success and celebrity because they capture the public's fancy. Be it through their nonsensical rhymes, ostentatious nature, proclivity to conflict, or swollen ego. Even someone as respected andrevered as Nas was at his most popular when he assumed the larger-than-life persona of a Mafia don, dealing coke with Italians and wearing pink leisure suits in the desert.

People also act as if Wayne wasn't always the eclectic one in the crew during CMR's halcyon days. The nigga was inserting sound effects into his rhymes, making funny faces in videos, wearing flamboyant Iceberg gear. He always made an attempt to stand out.

At the end of the day, Tha Carter III is a successful album not because Wayne has fulfilled the promise of becoming the "best rapper alive" by hip-hop purist standards, but because he's unafraid to let his personality come out, to expose himself in his work. Wayne has come into his own as an artist and an entertainer.


Whoo, this is an old pic!


You can read this, and more, at Air Conditioning, the official blog of Jay Fingers.