NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Collins considers Bulls job

By RICK GANO, AP Sports Writer 8 hours, 53 minutes ago


CHICAGO (AP)—To shape their future, the Chicago Bulls could turn to the past.

Doug Collins, who guided the Bulls and a young Michael Jordan from 1986-89 but couldn’t get them past Detroit in the playoffs, has talked with the team about returning as coach.

“I have spoken with Bulls management recently about their head coaching vacancy and will resume conversations after the conclusion of my work for TNT in the Western Conference finals,” Collins said in a statement Thursday from Los Angeles, where he was working Game 5 of the Spurs-Lakers series. “There is no agreement in place.”

During a pre-game interview on TNT, Collins said he talked with both Bulls general manager John Paxson and team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

“I have not been offered. I have not accepted,” Collins said.

“Jerry Reinsdorf has been a friend of mine the last 20 years so he and I have spoken on a lot of occasions over the last 20 years. … the whole thing is there’s interest on both sides.”

Collins added that as soon as the Western Conference finals were over: “We’ve agreed to sit down and talk to see exactly what is there.”

Known for his emotional style, Collins also coached the Detroit Pistons and the Washington Wizards—when Jordan was head of basketball operations there and made a comeback as a player.

Chicago has had a vacancy since interim coach Jim Boylan was fired after the end of a disappointing 33-49 season. Boylan had replaced Scott Skiles, who was fired last Christmas Eve after the Bulls’ surprisingly sluggish start following three straight playoff appearances.

The Bulls have a nucleus of young talent and also won the recent draft lottery, giving them the overall No. 1 pick next month when they are expected to choose between Kansas State’s Michael Beasley or Memphis’ Derrick Rose.

But they are coming off a season fraught with problems that included players missing practices and having angry exchanges with coaches. Joakim Noah, last year’s first-round pick, was recently arrested in Gainesville, Fla., for having an open container of alcohol and was also charged with marijuana possession.

Collins, who appeared content to stay in TV, where is considered one of the best analysts, could be ready to tackle an NBA head coaching job for the fourth time. He’s been fired three times. Web sites at both the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune said Collins would fill Chicago’s vacancy.

Collins said he decided to explore the job after getting the go-ahead and encouragement from his son Chris, who is an assistant coach at Duke.

“Chris has always been the reluctant one. He basically really gave me the real freedom to explore opportunities that maybe I hadn’t done over the last five years,” Collins said.

Paxson released a statement that was posted on the team’s Web site.

“I have been in contact with Doug Collins in regard to our head coaching position. Contrary to some reports that are currently out there, we have not reached an agreement,” said Paxson, who played under Collins during his first stint in Chicago.

“Right now, his commitment is covering the Western Conference finals for TNT. When that series concludes, we will continue our dialogue. In the meantime, I will continue to talk to other candidates and review our options,” Paxson added.

The Bulls had been interested in former Suns coach Mike D’Antoni, but he took the Knicks job before Chicago could make an offer.

Collins had a 137-109 record during his first stint with the Bulls, going 40-42 in his first season when they were swept in the first round by Boston.

Chicago was 50-32 the next year but was beaten by the Pistons in five games in the conference semifinals. The Bulls were 47-35 the next season and again were eliminated by Detroit, this time in six games in the conference finals.

Collins was fired and replaced by Phil Jackson, whose first team also lost to Detroit in the conference finals, 4-3. The following season the Bulls swept the Pistons and went on to the first of six championships in the 90s with Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

Collins worked 2 1/2 seasons with the Pistons starting in 1995, going 46-36, 54-28 and 21-24. He was let go amid reports his style caused friction with some players.

He was 37-45 in both seasons in Washington but couldn’t get the Wizards into the playoffs. He was fired shortly after Jordan was denied a return to the front office.

Collins’ overall record is 332-287 and 15-23 in the postseason.

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This ONLY works if they fire Doug in a couple years and hire Phil Jackson, otherwise I'M NOT INTERESTED! I stand by what I said earlier, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The Carol Burnett Show ruled my world...

... when I was a kid. Carol Burnett's show was EVERYTHING! And Harvey Korman was an integral part of that magic. I don't know if it would be as funny now, but I don't think I'll try to find out. I'll just leave it in my memory. Every comedian should aspire to the freedom and comfort and courage that they performed with on that show. Beautiful

Rest in Peace Mr. Korman.

'Burnett Show' comic actor Harvey Korman dies

David Wiegand, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, May 30, 2008

Comic character actor Harvey Korman, best known as part of the ensemble that made "The Carol Burnett Show" a huge ratings and Emmy winner for more than a decade, died Thursday at UCLA Medical Center from complications of a ruptured aortic artery. He was 81.

Although Mr. Korman's film roles were classic, including his turn as a sniveling Hedley Lamarr in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles," it was on the small screen that he found his enduring fame. For 10 seasons starting in 1967, Mr. Korman was part of Burnett's core group of performers. He was Rhett Butler to her drapery-wearing Scarlett O'Hara in the famous "Gone With the Wind" sketch, and he was Max the butler in the show's spoof of "Sunset Boulevard."

Burnett was the CBS show's star, but the ensemble, which also included Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway, was what made the sketches work week after week. Yet, within that beautifully assembled group, Mr. Korman and Conway stood out as a perfect comic pairing on the level of Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and Burns and Allen.

Mr. Korman, the taller of the pair, was the straight man who couldn't keep a straight face as Conway succeeded almost every week in finding some way to break his partner up with some bit of unrehearsed business. Much of the joy the audience felt toward the show came from those moments when Mr. Korman would fight every impulse to laugh as Conway droned on in some inspired comic rift, until, finally and predictably, Mr. Korman would double over in laughter.

Burnett was devastated by Mr. Korman's death, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi.

"She loved Harvey very much," she said.

"He was a brilliant comedian and a brilliant father," daughter Kate Korman said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. "He had a very good sense of humor in real life."

Harvey Herschel Korman was born in Chicago on Feb. 15, 1927, and left college to join the Navy. He later attended the Chicago Institute's Goodman School of Drama and moved to New York to try to catch a break in show business.

"For the next 13 years, I tried to get on Broadway, on off-Broadway, under or beside Broadway," he said in a 1971 interview.

Finding no luck getting hired for the stage, Mr. Korman tried a comedy act with a friend, but the two were fired on their opening night.

Next, Mr. Korman headed West to try his luck in films, but for his first three years in Hollywood the closest he got to the movie business was working as a doorman at a movie theater.

Finally, he was hired in 1964 by Danny Kaye to be part of the ensemble for his TV show and remained a part of the cast until the show was canceled in 1967.

He found guest spots in other shows from time to time, including "The Steve Allen Comedy Hour" and "The Untouchables," but he found a home with the launch of the Burnett show in 1967. The show earned him four Emmys.

He left the show early to try his own show in 1978, but "The Harvey Korman Show" only lasted a few episodes before it was canceled.

Looking back on his failed venture during a 1999 interview with The Chronicle's Sylvia Rubin, Mr. Korman knew why it didn't work:

"Everybody thinks they can do their own show," he said before appearing at a benefit with Conway for the San Francisco State University athletic scholarship fund. "But not everybody can. It didn't work because I'm not a star. There's a certain persona, a certain something you have to have. I ain't got it. I've got heartburn, indigestion, arthritis, but not star quality."

In addition to his "Blazing Saddles" role in 1974, Mr. Korman appeared in other Brooks films, including "High Anxiety," "History of the World: Part I" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."

"A world without Harvey Korman - it's a more serious world," Brooks said in an AP interview. "It was very dangerous for me to work with him because if our eyes met we'd crash to the floor in comic ecstasy. ... It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh."

Mr. Korman's other films included "Gypsy," "Huckleberry Finn" and two "Pink Panther" movies.

Mr. Korman's 1960 marriage to Donna Elhart ended in divorce in 1977. In 1982, he married Debrah Fritz, who survives him along with two children from his first marriage and two from his second.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Chronicle news services contributed to this report. E-mail David Wiegand at dwiegand@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/30/BAVU110AI2.DTL

OK, first Scott McClellan, then Rupert Murdoch, THEN Clay Aiken?

Clay Aiken reportedly expecting a baby

Singer and woman who worked on his album used artificial insemination

Access Hollywood

updated 5:06 p.m. PT, Thurs., May. 29, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Clay Aiken is reportedly going to be a dad.

The former “American Idol” alum, 29, will be the father of Jaymes Foster’s baby, the sister of record mogul David Foster. Celebrity Web site TMZ.com reports that multiple sources have confirmed the news to the gossip site.

Foster, 50, who was reportedly artificially inseminated, is due in August. The two live together in Los Angeles. The singer will have an active role in raising the child, reports TMZ.

Foster was married for 23 years, but has no children.

When contacted by Access Hollywood, a rep for Aiken wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Last month during an interview with Billy Bush, Aiken said he has worked with Jaymes Foster for years.

“(She) is the executive producer of the (new) album,” Aiken told Bush. “She’s been my executive producer for the last two years.”

During the interview with Bush, Aiken also spoke about the topic everyone always wants to know about — his sexuality.

“Does it play to your advantage to leave it as a mystery?” Bush asked.

“Does it play to my advantage?” Aiken laughed. “I don’t really know. Maybe so, I don’t know.”

Aiken admitted when attention turned to his sexuality during his “Idol” run, it was a tough time.

“It can be difficult initially. I think when you get into anything and you’re not used to people scrutinizing this, that or the other… it bothers you,” Aiken noted. “After awhile you kind of just say, ‘Forget this… This is not who I am, this is not about me, what I want to do is be a singer, want to be an entertainer, and forget all that stuff.’”

And while he may not be ready to comment publicly on his love life, Aiken said he lets the music on his new album, “On My Way Here,” speak for itself.

“Some of the songs on the album are personal, some of them are not personal, some of them are very universal and I like to keep that — allow people to interpret it that way,” he said.

TMZ.com contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 by NBC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Ok, if you were a famous dude, who everybody thought was gay? Would you think that you were disproving that thought, by marrying a 50 year old who is basically your business partner THEN getting her pregnant through artificial insemination.

Not that I'm saying that Clay cares if we think he is gay. I'm sure this is true love, although I hear even Michael Jackson is suspicious.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24882499/

First Scott McClellan NOW Rupert Murdoch?

If you don't believe me, then read about it here.

Rupert Murdoch, the founder or FOX News, basically endorsed Barack Obama.

Rupert Murdoch.

Fox News... The people who turned Jeremiah Wright into a piñata.

He said that if Barack is the nominee that Barack will win by a landslide, and he said that he is leaning toward voting for Barack Obama.

Now one could look at this as a sign of how impressive Barack Obama is that he has flipped one of the major conservatives into a supporter.

OR…

One could be like me and be completely suspicious of the entire affair.

Think about it. Rupert Murdoch can’t come on TV and say, “Hey! Racist white people. We reeeeeeeally need to you to turn out and vote for McCain cuz this Obama guy is stronger than we thought. So racist white people, we need you to register to vote and well, first we need you to learn how to read AND THEN register to vote… actually we don’t have time for you to learn how to read… just register to vote.

Rupert can’t do that. So I believe he’s smarter than that. It’s reverse psychology 101. If he goes on TV and says, “It’s inevitable that Barack will win.”, then all the racists at home will go, “No, it’s not! Milly, teach me how to read. I gots to vote!”

I think Bill should start wearing these again...

Bill Cosby's famous TV sweaters up for auction

Thu May 29, 2:13 PM ET

Some of Bill Cosby's legendary patterned sweaters his long-running television hit "The Cosby Show" will be auctioned off next month to benefit a charity set up in memory of the actor's late son, organizers said on Thursday.

Never available to the public before, three of the iconic sweaters worn by Cosby's character, Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, on the show in the 1980s and '90s will be sold on eBay's Giving Works charity listing arm from June 2-12. Opening bids will start at $5,000 per item on www.eBay.com/cosby.

The proceeds will benefit the education charity Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation, which was established in 1997 by the Cosby family to continue the legacy of Cosby's son Ennis after his murder in Los Angeles.

"My mother and father were going through a storage closet, and I happened to be there and pounced on these sweaters," explained daughter Evin Cosby, who is a board member of Hello Friend.

"I told them that the price of what some of these sweaters might sell for could make a big difference in the lives of thousands of children."

"The Cosby Show" was one of the most popular sitcoms on U.S. television, airing on NBC between 1984 and 1992.

Reuters/Nielsen

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I just want a Hillman sweatshirt. His sweaters rule. Too bad he doesn't anymore.

A couple of years ago, me and Kevin Avery went to see Bill at The Paramount Theater in Oakland. It was like a Master Class in comedy. Shortly thereafter Bill became the Angry Old Man that he is now. Sadly he funnier now, but not in the good way.

Clinton, Defending Nomination Battle, Cites R.F.K. Assassination

By Katharine Q. Seelye

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.– Senator Hillary Clinton referred to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 as a reason she should continue her battle with Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.

Mrs. Clinton's remarks came during meeting with the Sioux Falls Argus Leadereditorial board. She was responding to a question about calls for her to drop out of the race. The editorial board meeting, in advance of South Dakota's primary on June 3, was carried live on the Argus Leader's Web site.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," Mrs. Clinton said, dismissing the idea of dropping out.

Mr. Obama learned of the remark when he was traveling to a rally in South Florida. He was not expected to publicly discuss it, aides said. Instead, the campaign issued a one-line statement.

"Senator Clinton's statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign," said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.

But an aide to Mrs. Clinton said that she was simply using the Kennedy assassination as a benchmark to underscore that nomination fights can go a long time and that she was in no way implying anything else.

"She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer," said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign. "Any reading into it beyond that is outrageous."

...

Ummmm... one question... WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE TALKING ABOUT? What does the assassination of Bobby Kennedy have to do with her not dropping put of the race? Oh wait, is she paying tribute to Kevin Nealon's "Subliminal Man" from Saturday Night Live?

Is she hoping that by putting assassinate and Barack in the same sentence that one of her poor, uneducated, non-college graduate, middle American, uncomfortable voting for a black person, constituents will get the message?

She has sensed issued an apology for this, but this falls under my category of meaningless apologies. Kinda like, "Dude, I am sorry that I threw all over the inside of your car."

P.S. Thanks to my good friend Rich for sending this to me.

SIx minutes Doug E. Fresh and you're free...

Hip-hop pioneer `Slick Rick' pardoned by N.Y. gov

2 hours, 32 minutes ago

New York Gov. David Paterson is granting a full and unconditional pardon to rapper Ricky "Slick Rick" Walters for the attempted murders of two men in 1991.

The pardon is expected to halt efforts to deport Walters to the United Kingdom, the country he left as a child.

The eyepatch-wearing star behind the '80s rap classic "La-Di-Da-Di" served more than five years in prison after the shooting of his cousin and another man. Both survived.

The governor says Walters is now a rap artist and landlord in the Bronx who hasn't had any criminal problems since his release from prison in 1997. He also says Walters has volunteered to counsel youths against violence.

...

Wesley Snipes goes down for tax evasion. Michael Vick goes down for perjury. And Slick Rick is pardoned. I guess THE MAN felt like he owed us one. Although I guess this is the new black governor who's pardoning him. He knows that Slick Rick "don't cause trouble" and "don't bother nobody."

New VIDEO Clips from The W. Kamau Bell Curve

I've been unbloggable lately cuz I've been working on this behemoth of a freaking show.

Here's some clips that were filmed and edited for me by Mike Paunovich. Thanks, Mike.





Please watch them and comment on them before they get all splattered with 'N' Bombs liek the last one.

Thanks for your enduring support.

Mildred Loving, matriarch of interracial marriage, dies

By DIONNE WALKER, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 38 minutes ago

Mildred Loving, a black woman whose challenge to Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down such laws nationwide, has died, her daughter said Monday.

Peggy Fortune said Loving, 68, died Friday at her home in rural Milford. She did not disclose the cause of death.

"I want (people) to remember her as being strong and brave yet humble — and believed in love," Fortune told The Associated Press.

Loving and her white husband, Richard, changed history in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their right to marry. The ruling struck down laws banning racially mixed marriages in at least 17 states.

"There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause," the court ruled in a unanimous decision.

Her husband died in 1975. Shy and soft-spoken, Loving shunned publicity and in a rare interview with The Associated Press last June, insisted she never wanted to be a hero — just a bride.

"It wasn't my doing," Loving said. "It was God's work."

Mildred Jeter was 11 when she and 17-year-old Richard began courting, according to Phyl Newbeck, a Vermont author who detailed the case in the 2004 book, "Virginia Hasn't Always Been for Lovers."

She became pregnant a few years later, she and Loving got married in Washington in 1958, when she was 18. Mildred told the AP she didn't realize it was illegal.

"I think my husband knew," Mildred said. "I think he thought (if) we were married, they couldn't bother us."

But they were arrested a few weeks after they returned to Central Point, their hometown in rural Caroline County north of Richmond. They pleaded guilty to charges of "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth," according to their indictments.

They avoided jail time by agreeing to leave Virginia — the only home they'd known — for 25 years. They moved to Washington for several years, then launched a legal challenge by writing to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who referred the case to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Attorneys later said the case came at the perfect time — just as lawmakers passed the Civil Rights Act, and as across the South, blacks were defying Jim Crow's hold.

"The law that threatened the Lovings with a year in jail was a vestige of a hateful, discriminatory past that could not stand in the face of the Lovings' quiet dignity," said Steven Shapiro, national legal director for the ACLU.

"We loved each other and got married," she told The Washington Evening Star in 1965, when the case was pending. "We are not marrying the state. The law should allow a person to marry anyone he wants."

After the Supreme Court ruled, the couple returned to Virginia, where they lived with their children, Donald, Peggy and Sidney. Each June 12, the anniversary of the ruling, Loving Day events around the country mark the advances of mixed-race couples.

Richard Loving died in a car accident that also injured his wife. "They said I had to leave the state once, and I left with my wife," he told the Star in 1965. "If necessary, I will leave Virginia again with my wife, but I am not going to divorce her."

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Ummm... so let me get this straight... the illegal part was that she was black and he was white? NOT that when they began "courting" he was seventeen and she was ELEVEN? What in the name of Roger Clemens is wrong with this country?

Man, I hope this a real tape!

Wouldn't it be awesome?

Jimi Hendrix estate says sex video bogus

Mon May 5, 4:42 AM ET

An amateur sex video purporting to feature legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix and two women is bogus, managers of the late rock-star's estate said in a statement Friday.

The statement, published on the official Jimi Hendrix website, blasted the grainy 40-year-old footage that surfaced earlier this week as a "callous attempt to trade on the image" of the music legend, who died in 1970 aged 27.

"We strongly dispute the claimed authenticity and affirmatively state that Experience Hendrix is neither involved in nor have we authorized the distribution of this film," the statement said.

"Further, we deplore this obvious exploitation of Jimi Hendrix," it added. "We are highly offended by the disgraceful portrayal."

On Tuesday US porn giant Vivid Entertainment said it was releasing "Jimi Hendrix: The Sex Tape."

The Los Angeles-based company said it obtained the footage from a collector, and said it had been authenticated by experts, including Pamela Des Barres, a former groupie and lover of Hendrix.

Cynthia "Plaster Caster" Albritton, "famous for creating plaster molds of the penises of rock stars, including that of Hendrix," was also cited as authenticating the video.

However, Kathy Etchingham, one of Hendrix's steady girlfriends in the 1960s, told the New York Times the man in the tape "is not him. His face is too broad and nose and nostrils too wide for Jimi."

Celebrity sex videos are highly lucrative part of the adult movie industry, with hotel heiress Paris Hilton and actress Pamela Anderson among those who found themselves unwitting sex tape stars.

Experience Hendrix