• Four of my photos have made it into this year’s Schmap’s guides. Three of them for Atlanta, and one for New York City. I’m not a photographer…really. But maybe I should look into getting a better camera.
  • Is anyone using 8apps.com anymore? That site’s been stagnant since March. It’s a great concept, but I just don’t see any real work being accomplished there. Then again, it could be another symptom of YASP overload.
  • Speaking of YASPs…check me out over at My Anime List and iLike.
  • I have to say, one of my favorite blogs to check in on these days is What About Our Daughters. Right now, this blog is campaigning very heavily against BET’s new series "Hot Ghetto Mess" and serves pretty much as a clarion call to action through the Black blogosphere. Surf on over and help out, would ya?
  • On a similar note, I’m also working with the author of the aforementioned blog on an upcoming "Blogging While Brown" conference for bloggers of color, kicking off in the Summer of 2008. There’s still a lot of work to be done, so if you’d like to help out, please, please, PLEASE learn more over at the Blogging While Brown website.
  • The Blackface Tinkerbell strikes again! This time, it’s 80-year-old chairman of the Roger Williams University Board Ralph Papitto, who mistakenly lets the n-word fly during a board meeting. Says Ralph, "The first time I heard it was on television and then rap music or something". O rly? What racial utopia do you live in where in your 80 years in the United States, through the Civil Rights Movement, you’ve never heard of the word nigger? I guess when all else fails, blame the rappers, right? My God, Rhode Island controlled between 60% and 90% of the African slave trade after the American Revolution, for cripes sake. Aye yi yi….
  • Working America is holding their 2nd Annual "My Bad Boss" contest. In case you remember, I placed 5th last year after describing Micro-Manager’s rampant buffoonery. Surely some of y’all have a crazy boss out there too. The contest starts on July 24th.
  • You know, I try to give Marvel Comics a pass when it comes to their characters of color. They handled the Storm/T’Challa wedding well, and the two are even in the current roster of the Fantastic Four. Marvel’s better than DC, at least in terms of quantity of CoC, but this latest Marvel character takes the cake:

    Roxy Washington was born into hip-hop "royalty" as the daughter of Roy "Daddy Libido" Washington and Angel "Sexy Mutha" Depres. Having appeared in her parents’ rap videos from a young age, Washington was often targeted by would-be kidnappers and assassins.

    Oh, and her power? She shoots diamonds out of her fingertips. Codename? Bling! With the exclamation point. Shoot me now.

  • This past weekend, there was a relationship conference here for gay couples called 2 Days 2 Men 2 Grow. The event is dubbed as "a supportive, relaxed place for couples to learn skills and ideas from experts and other couples to enhance their shared lives" (link). From their pictures, I didn’t see any gay couples of color, but I sincerely hope they were some there representing. (Really, I do.)
  • The Food Network goes Latin with their new show Simply Delicioso with Colombian-born Ingrid Hoffmann. Dubbed as the Latina Rachael Ray (I think I hate her already if that’s true), Hoffman’s show will focus on quick meals, not all of them traditional. I guess that’s like going to the Olive Garden and getting a Parmesan hot dog.

    Part of me welcomes Food Network for trying to expand their cooking shows to more than just European-influenced trends, but another part of me is thinking, this show will not last long. Other food network shows featuring prominent minorities (Calorie Commando with Juan-Carlos Cruz and Sugar Rush with Warren Brown) have damn near disappeared from the network’s listings. Hell, you don’t even see Sandra Pinckney or Al Roker anymore, and they don’t cook a damn thing! Good luck, Ingrid. (Personally, they should’ve gotten my girl Daisy Martinez if they really wanted some Latin flavor, but I digress.)

  • And finally…this is just damn disturbing: