NobleMag

Opening Night Film Premieres at Harlem's Magic Johnson Theaters Featuring RedCarpet Premiere with Steve Harvey

The Urbanworld Film Festival, presented byBET Networks, will launch its five-day festival at Magic Johnson Theaters Harlem (300 W. 125th St.) on Wednesday, September 10 with the stand-up comedyextravaganza, Steve Harvey: Still Trippin'. Steve Harvey, a film festival favorite since Urbanworld's presentation of The Original Kings of Comedy in2000, returns to Urbanworld presenting his newest film success. In an all-new live stand-up performance presented by Codeblack Entertainment,Still Trippin' features Steve Harvey once again commanding the stage. On atrip where no topic is off limits, from tattoos and family weddings topolygamous compounds and diaper-wearing astronauts, Harvey keeps it real andnever misses a beat. Filmed in New Jersey to a packed house, his energy andcomedic timing are second to none."We're very excited to have Steve Harvey return to the festival," statesStacy Spikes, founder of Urbanworld. "He has always been an Urbanworldaudience favorite.""Having fan favorite Steve Harvey join us on opening night will ensure theUrbanworld festival starts off in an incredible way," said Alvin Bowles,Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, BET Networks. "BET Networkssupports Urbanworld's inherent ability to continuously attract such highquality talent from both in front of and behind the camera to be a part ofthe festival.""With its broad list of marquee sponsors, this year's Urbanworld festivalshowcases the importance of the event's unique selling environment," saidLouis Carr, President, Broadcast Media Sales, BET Networks. "In ourpartnership with Urbanworld, we are proud to embrace the affinity ouraudience shares with the world of film."The Urbanworld Film Festival, with 2008 Honorary Chair Queen Latifah, isdedicated to the exhibition of independent and mainstream cinema by and aboutpeople of color. Urbanworld will screen 85 films in New York City fromSeptember 10 through 14. With the exception of the opening film, allfestival screenings will be held at the AMC Loews 34th Street Theaters.A recent addition to the festival slate, the Cinemax presentation of the neworiginal series Zane's Sex Chronicles will preview at The Urbanworld FilmFestival. In association with New York Times best-selling author Zane andOscar(r) nominee and two-time Emmy(r) winner Suzanne de Passe, this newseries will debut Friday, October 10 (midnight ET), with new episodes onsubsequent Fridays at the same time, exclusively on Cinemax. This new urbanlate-night series -- based on the wildly popular book series by the same name-- follows heroine Patience James and her girlfriends Maricruz, Lyric, Eboniand Ana Marie as they take on their lives in the big city, look for love andempower themselves -- both in and out of the bedroom.RECENTLY ADDED SPONSORSCoverGirl Queen Collection joins the Festival this year as a 2008 PrestigeSponsor, the highest available after that of Presenting Sponsor BET Networksand Founding Sponsor HBO. The Queen Collection's participation will featuremulti-platform support of the Festival consisting of Title Sponsorship of theClosing Night Presentation of Fox Searchlight's The Secret Life of Beesstarring Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah, on-air support of the BETbroadcast of "Inside Urbanworld: A Conversation with The Queen," andexclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Queen Latifah as she prepares for herrole as Honorary Chair of the 12th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival that willstream online at http://www.bet.com/ and http://www.urbanworld.org/.Time Warner Cable joins the Festival sponsor lineup this year at the Prestigelevel. As part of their sponsorship, Time Warner Cable will host the annual Filmmaker's Ball reception on September 10th, which kicks off the Festivalevent schedule. Time Warmer Cable customers receive an exclusive 20% discountto the VIP all-access pass to the Festival. Visit http://www.urbanworld.com/for more information.

steve harvey

WHO: Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) co-founder Russell Simmons; HSAN co-founder, President/CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis and Executive Director Valeisha Butterfield; Lori Gibbs, Vice President, Affordable Housing and Industry Affairs, Genworth Financial; Maria Kong, CEO of NAREB (National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the oldest and largest African American real estate trade organization); Tim Sandos, CEO of NAHREP (National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals) and Lynn Richardson, Chair of the HSAN Home Ownership Advisory Council. WHAT: In response to the current billion dollar mortgage and foreclosure crisis throughout the United States, HSAN and mortgage industry executives have joined together to announce a joint initiative to provide solutions to this crisis for young Americans. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, foreclosures soared 75 percent nationally in 2007, and the trend continues today. As a result of foreclosure, African Americans have lost more than $92 billion, and a loss of more than $122 billion is projected. Latinos will lose $98 billion. Overall, people of color and others will lose more than $200 billion if effective solutions are not implemented. This joint venture's programmatic solutions will be unveiled at the press briefing. WHERE: Hip-Hop Summit Action Network offices; 512 7th Avenue (37-38th Sts); 42nd floor. WHEN: Tuesday, September 9, 2008; 12 noon -12:30pm EST. PRESS CHECK IN AT 11AM EST. BRING ID TO GET INTO BUILDING, PLEASE.

russell simmons, hip hop summit

Barack Obama is continuing to defeat the odds as he met the 50 percent threshold for the first time in the Gallup daily tracking poll on Tuesday - a symbolic hurdle that until now had eluded the Democratic nominee. The Gallup daily tracking poll has found that since the conclusion of the Democratic convention, Obama has risen 5 percentage points in the polls and now leads John McCain 50 percent to 42 percent, according to Politico.com. That represents a positive turn for Obama, after a couple of days which he appeared to have peaked at the 49 percent mark while McCain was showing slight improvements. While an improvement from 49 percent to 50 percent is statistically insignificant, the 50 percent mark holds significance for a party seeking to win its first majority since 1976, when Jimmy Carter won with 50.1 percent. Obama now has his firmest political footing of the campaign, according to polls. Daily tracking polls by Gallup and Rasmussen Reports demonstrate that Obama has taken his greatest lead since the beginning of the general election in June when he clinched the Democratic nomination. [source]

barack obama

Did you watch the speeches yesterday at the Republican Convention. They all SUCKED! Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is weak... but I can see why John chose her, she creates an amazing balance to his more-of-the-same-ol typical old white republican who is out of touch candidacy. Indeed she offers a spin or an IDEA on the hard working suburban wife and mother who can do it all, including helping to run a country and this will win her votes with women who can relate... but the bottom line is he is too old and she is too young. I see a potential disaster. Does he have the time to teach her and run the country at the same time and does she have the time to learn, be a mother to all those kids and help to run the country? This is a no brainer... what do you think?

sarah palin

Konvict Muzik founder Akon
may be locked up after being ordered to stand trial in Fishkill, NY on
charges stemming from a June 2007 concert in which he was shown
throwing a teenage fan offstage, resulting in another fan suffering a
concussion.

Fishkill Town Justice Harold Epstein ordered the singer back in
court on December 1 for the start of his jury trial, reports E! Online.


If convicted of both charges -endangering the welfare of a child and
second-degree harassment, he faces a maximum of one year and 15 days
behind bars.

Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Parisi has
requested that Akon's attorney, Andrea Zellan, try to work out a deal
within the next two weeks to avoid a trial. Akon's lawyers released a statement expressing a willingness to settle the case.

"We are pleased that Judge Epstein adjourned the case to a date
certain for either a trial or a negotiated resolution," the statement
read. "Akon looks forward to putting this incident behind him, and in
the meantime, he will continue to meet every requirement set forth by
the court." [source]

akon

I have to say, I have actually been around Tupac on several occasions and I even took pictures at several events. He hung around KKBT a lot back in the heyday when I was a DJ there. What I knew was there were two sides to him. One was the outspoken derivative of his mother Afini Shakur for the Black cause and the other side was the wild rapper side. I don't think the magazine is denying that he was a phenom rapper but I think they are speaking from an overall standpoint...Out of curiousity, is Blender that far off?

Dead rapper Tupac "2Pac" Shakur, the hip-hop icon who sold more records after he was murdered than during his brief career, is the most overrated person in music, according to music magazine Blender. Shakur tops a tongue-in-cheek list that also includes "places, trends and other junk in rock," Blender said in its upcoming October issue, due on newsstands next week. Other overrated finalists included the Grammys at No. 7, encores at No. 12, Pink Floyd at No. 14 and "the music you loved as a teenager" at No. 23. Shakur, a "gangsta" rapper who showed his sensitive side in movies, was killed during an unsolved drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996. More than a dozen albums have been released in the ensuing years, and his image is almost as ubiquitous as that of Che Guevara or Bob Marley. But while Shakur was a decent rapper with "insane rock-star charisma," according to Blender, he also "larded records with self-mythologizing, mediocre filler." It"s not the first time the pages of Blender have been used to bring down Shakur a few notches. In its June issue, rapper Lil Wayne listed him among his top five rappers, but then admitted: "I can"t front: I was never into Pac." As for the Grammys, the music industry"s top awards, Blender said sitting through the ceremony was "like watching paint dry on Celine Dion"s forehead." And encores were notable chiefly for allowing bands to go backstage and do drugs while fans wonder if they should beat the rush to the parking lot, Blender said. Veteran British rock band Pink Floyd, meanwhile, were responsible for "unbearable LSD slapstick" and "self-important bombast." And Blender warned that teenagers" brains "can inflate a great band to Christ-size proportions" and turn a bad song into the most meaningful.

tupac,

Sandy "Salt" Denton

It's been revealed that one afternoon in late August, someone broke into one of Floyd Mayweather"s homes and made off with his personal jewelry. Mayweather, who is no stranger to bragging about his income or shall we say "Advertising" his income, issued a $100,000 cash reward for information leading to the return of his property. (Do you really need a college degree to figure this out? On top of that, how long did he really think it would take before this would happen?) Mayweather confirmed that the jewelry is estimated to be valued at $7 million (why do you need that much jewelry except to.... brag? Ever think about retirement? A fool and his money...) and was taken from one of his Las Vegas homes. The offense occurred on August 17, between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. The thieves apparently broke his bedroom window and entered while he was out of the house. No one was hurt and security is working around the clock to ensure that cameras and professional guards are posted (I'm willing to bet it's somebody he knows and somebody who's been in his bedroom before and someone he showed the jewelry too.) Only the jewelry was observed to be missing (what the hell else would they want?). Anyone with information on this crime can call Sherbrooke, Jelan and Associates at (678) 457-5858 or (404) 786-1321. Callers could be eligible for an immediate cash reward of $100,000 and may remain anonymous (he has an idea of who did it, can't you tell?)

floyd mayweather

Ne-Yo has scored a nice additional payday for being dumped by R Kelly's promoters on the the road show last year. A Los Angeles judge has ordered Kelly's promoter to fork out the balance of what Ne-Yo would have earned for the tour which amounted to $700,320. The current industry's most prolific Grammy-winning writer went to court in December, alleging he was removed from the Double Up tour because his opening set was getting better reaction from fans and critics than Kelly's. (Doesn't this sound like the same kind of thing singer Joe was alleging against Kelly?) The bill also featured Keyshia Cole and J. Holiday. Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey made his default judgment after Georgia-based Rowe Entertainment refused to respond to the lawsuit filed by Ne-Yo under his real name, Shaffer Smith. Per his suit, Ne-Yo was supposed to earn $785,000 on the 25-date jaunt, but the 25-year-old performer was canned by Rowe after the second show on Nov. 15 and only received a fraction of the contracted amount. At the time, the promoter blamed the dismissal on Ne-Yo's camp for not completing the proper paperwork. There was no immediate comment from either Ne-Yo or Rowe on the judge's ruling. Kelly was not named as a defendant in the suit. It's shaping up to be a big month for the rising star, whose third studio album, Year of the Gentleman, drops Sept. 16. [source]

R Kelly, Ne-Yo

tyson beckford

Singer/actor Tyrese Gibson admits to becoming a little complacent while slacking on his healthy eating habits in recent months. The movie star was working on the set of his new film "Seven Pounds", when he was pushed so hard to lose weight by Will Smith, that he passed out in his trailer. Smith reinspired him to get back into shape. He says, "Life got a little comfortable for me for a quick minute. I got unprioritized and started eating a few things; probably gaining a little over 40 pounds." Gibson states, "Will is intense and just being in the company of his co-star, along with some real powerful conversations, was the start of him turning things around." "The times that I passed out in his trailer he was there to help me get on my feet. I passed out trying to keep up with him." [source]

tyrese, will smith

Bobby Brown is planning to wed again after confirming he and manager/girlfriend Alicia Etheredge are an item. Brown was with Etheredge when he reportedly suffered a minor heart attack last year in October, but it has taken him almost a year to confirm the romance. Now he tells Sister 2 Sister Magazine he's mad about Etheredge. He says, "That one; the relationship is gonna work 'cause I'm gonna make it work." Etheredge has always maintained she and Brown are longtime friends and business partners, but she hopes to be the one when Brown chooses to settle down again. In an interview last year, she said, "I think that Bobby is a big romantic and really does believe in love. His parents are still married after all these years and I think that he will find that again." The R&B crooner ended his first, 14-year marriage with Grammy-award winning, singer Whitney Houston just last year when the couple's divorce became final on April 24. An Orange County judge granted Houston a divorce and sole custody of their 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina. Brown reportedly didn't show up for the hearing.

[source]

Bobby Brown