The Texas Tiger Chronicles

Saturday, December 17, 2005



Channeling my emotions from last night -

Mood: Hot Tamale.
Mode: I am wearing some fitted brown pinstriped slacks from Ben Sherman. The pants are brown with stripes of pink and grey. My shirt is a fitted Ben Sherman cosmopolitan top in dark chocolate brown with pink pinstripes. My boots are chocolate brown Kenneth Cole with a pink stripe going down the center. I adorned my outfit with a vibrant pink tie from Banana Republic. And you should have seen the pink stripe in my boots catch the tie that caught the shirt that caught the pants...SICKENING! It was a chocolate brown/pink affair. I finished it all off with my vintage trench coat, collar turned-up added the Colgate smile and a dash of Texas swagger.
Munchies: Macaroni and Cheese at Cafeteria....as seen on Sex and the City. A green apple martini and one mojito.
Song(s) that started off my evening: "Starchild" and "Seven Days in Sunny June" by Jamiroquai. These songs ALWAYS make me feel sexy/sleek/stylish and HOT TAMALE.
What song makes you feel sexy?
Motif/Question of the evening: What is your favorite song from the 80s?

Last night I had the pleasure of accompanying 7 gorgeous and successful black men to a holiday concert starring Dianne Reeves and Freddy Cole in Newark, New Jersey.



Now I know what you are saying to yourself: Ain't that where Whitney Houston is from? I am not sure, but as I exited the PATH train I was confronted by a police car chase and I immediately got on my cell phone and told my best friend Bobby (fyi - my best friend is Bobby Brown Jr....hand to God...that is his real name) "Hell to the Naw!" You and Rodney need to come pick my sheltered a$$ up cause I am scared!


Instead of waiting outside alone and vulnerable, I walked to the Burger King next to the train station because I needed something quick and fast. As I woofed down a double whopper I thought to myself about the irony of the situation. Here I am in new clothes (the only thing I had on that had not been purchased in the past two weeks were my shoes) on my way to a fabulous concert and I am eating at Burger King alone. But instead of feeling sorry for myself, I thought back to my childhood and all the Saturdays I spent at Burger King, age 6, with my mommy and my sister. I would always order a double cheeseburger. Back in the day you could get a kid's meal with a double cheeseburger. What fascinates me is that one burger used to fill me up. And I will be honest with you, even now, if I am hungry I can order a double cheeseburger and be that same filled-up 6-year-old. I just love double cheeseburgers. Thanks for the memories Burger King. I just wish that were still 99 cents.

Rodney and Bobby picked me up and we dashed off to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center which is a fabulous venue where the old meets the new. You know the building is modern based on its structure, fresh colors and hues and steel-reinforced staircases. But I miss the feeling you get when you go to an older venue and stare up at the ceiling admiring the facade and the thought that must have gone into the artwork painted on the ceiling or the intellect behind the crystals in the chandeliers. We didn't get any of that last night, but I didn't care because I knew Dianne was going to take me to a place far beyond the drugs and crimes of Newark. And I was not disappointed.

As I walked into the venue, the scent of old money mixed with newer money topped with thick stock portfolios filled my nostrils like a good cup of Godiva hot cocoa on a winter morning in Chicago. All at once I felt at home and welcomed. Adding this feeling to my already HOT TAMALE attitude I walked through the crowd looking at the well-appointed and seasoned African Americans I encountered as if they were all lost-friends of my parents whom I had not seen for years....but was happy to be reacquainted with.

I was introduced to Bobby and Rodney's friends and we took out seats. I ended up sitting at the end of the group (away from Bobby and Rodney, whom were the only persons I knew before hand) and I immediately feel rejected, alone, aloof, forgotten and lost. But then the lights went down and Freddy Cole appeared on stage with a band of three instrumentalists and I felt at home again.



I will admit to you. I had just met Fred Cole that night. He was a familiar friend in my soul. His voice was a rich and deep tenor. As I watched him work his majesty on the piano, I imagined what it must be like to be his grandchild. To hear granddaddy sing such wonderful carols this time of year. My granddaddy died when I was six. I remember his laugh, his dentures, his grey hair and how he loved me. His slow walk, him taking me fishing, him taking me shopping and him developing cancer. I remember him sitting in our living room in my dad's recliner watching football (which of course didn't interest me at all). And then I remembered his love of the Donny Hathaway song "This Christmas." I wish Fred would have sung that song, then again maybe it would have been too painful.

I should mention that the Julliard trained Cole is the brother of Nat King Cole. And Fred does not make any apologies for sounding like his brother. And he shouldn't. I think the sound is what welcomed me and made me think of Granddaddy.



After intermission and a quick hot cocoa break, Dianne Reeves took the stage. Also, this was my first time meeting her. I had heard about her but I didn't know much about her artistry.
She is a well-appointed African-American goddess who I would say is a well-kept 45 (at least). Hair was upswept (of course) with diamond sparklers hanging from her ears (naturally) and she presented us a simple black gown (which I imagined had straps) and topped off the gown with a light black jacket with sequins and little glittery things (very Diva-like of course).

The show called "Christmas Time is Here" took me on a Christmas journey that at times left North America and visited Brazil, the motherland, a little village in France and at one point the Rockaway as Dianne took out a moment from scatting and stretched her arms open wide and told the audience to "Lean Back, Lean Back."

As any Diva should, Dianne made me extremely emotional. At times I listened to her sing and I closed my eyes thinking about my life, my career, what I want, what I need and how I need to go get it. I thought about being single and how I like dating and meeting new people. And then some songs made me think about love and what type of person could make me happy. I was happy, I was sad, I was fearful, I was excited, I was lonely, I was alone, and I was overwhelmed. Not since the release of Lindsay Lohan's "A Little More Personal" album and her heartfelt tribute to her incarcerated father "Daughter to Father" had a woman touched me so deeply without ever knowing me.


Thank you Dianne for a wonderful evening.

After the concert, I slid into the luxury vehicle of a new friend (along with three other new friends) and ended up at the Chelsea hotspot Cafeteria (It was so very "Riding in the car with boys"). Cafeteria was featured on the show Sex and the City and the prerequisites for working there are that you be male, gay, slender with a gym body and have a little attitude. So very New York. So very Chelsea.

I started off the evening with an apple martini and a conversation about the virtues and misdeeds of Janet Jackson (an issue I addressed in an earlier post). Throughout the course of dinner and a second beverage we talked about 80s music, The Color Purple, Jackee's Back, The Apprentice, and R.Kelly (here it was said that "everyone has issues"). I do not think we can easily dismiss pedophilia as an "issue" cause it’s a "sickness" to sexualize a minor in my eyes, but whatever. Most of my dinner partners liked R.Kelly's music and I have already said on several occasions I think we let R.Kelly and Wacko Jacko get away with crime because they are talented, but that is b.s. If a 45-year-old man pissed on your niece you would get pissed and you would not easily say, oh, he has an issue. Neither would you let a 50-year old man sleep in the bed with your 10-year-old son just because he is a "thriller."

Alas, it was a great evening. I enjoyed myself. I adored my company. And I discovered some great music. So very New York. So very New York.

GOSSIP & HEADLINES:

Hillary runs up on Cheney - Brooklyn style!

Washington - During a very brief encounter, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) offered Vice-President Dick Cheney some unwelcomed advice telling the Cheney to gocheck out the progress in Iraq.
Clinton, who has visted Iraq twice since the war began, offered her remarks only moments before a war breifing at the White House yesterday, a source tels the New York post.
Shocked and stunned into silence, the source says Cheney remained mum. Ya'll didn't know Hillary was an OG? Hillary and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) are two of the most gangster senators sitting on the Hill today. Imagine them running together in '08, I couldn't stand it!



ADAM Goldstein, a week after breaking up with his stick-thin fiancée, Nicole Richie, having lunch with an attractively chubby woman at Fred Segal . . .BA$TARD! Even one knows how I feel about my sister (Nicole) and her feelings. I am furious. Adam, I hope your stomach expands and you gain back all 300 lbs you lost after your gastric bypass surgery. I hope you end up twice the size of Star Jones after a 1988 Christmas buffet.

The Liza-fication of Ashlee Simpson continues.



Jessica Simpson's chanteuse sister was rushed to a hospital following a live MTV performance in Tokyo Thursday night. She collapsed offstage after telling fans she felt unwell - adding, "I love you guys" - before being taken by ambulance to a city hospital.

Her rep had no comment yesterday, other than to say she was being treated for exhaustion.
You may recall the teeny-popper recently made headlines for clambering on top of a McDonald's counter in Canada, calling for the manager and generally doing a wonderful impersonation of a drunk.

"Ashlee's exhausted because she's been working so hard promoting her No. 1 CD," explained a pal, spinning so hard that he scrambled tornado response teams in three Midwestern states.
Actually, it's unfair to compare Ashlee with Liza Minnelli. God knows Liza can sing.

Ivana's No "TRUMP" after all

Has Ivana Trump's much-hyped desert tower turned out to be a castle in the air?

Word out of Nevada is that the 80-story Ivana Las Vegas project, which had been billed as the city's tallest luxury residential building, has been scrapped. Developers are now trying to unload the land for $49 million.


DJ denies putting smackdown on woman at club

Radio personality Ed Lover was freed on $1,000 bond yesterday after pleading not guilty to punching a woman at a Chelsea nightclub last weekend, basically saying his fist "though seen at the scene of the crime" was not the reason she needed 20 stiches.

Prosecutors claim the Power 105.1 deejay struck Letitia Belford, 26, in the face after she argued with a female friend of his.

Belford's attorney, Andrew Laskin, said Lover's pal had bumped into his client on the dance floor but there was no physical altercation until the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Lover jumped in and "cold-cocked" his petite client.

"We have a different view of the facts, and I'm confident we'll prevail," said lawyer Michael Berger, Lover's attorney. "He did nothing wrong."

Cancer-striken Rawls fights to Keep Money-grubbing wife away from Estate



In Los Angeles, the wife of Lou Rawls is trying to pull an Anna Nicole and "transfer" his estate into her own accounts as he lay in the hospital.

Rawls, being treated for lung cancer, is said to also have brain cancer and little chance of surviving much longer, according to his estranged wife Nina.

But in the middle of chemotherapy and other medications, Rawls has managed to file for annullment since discovering that Nina has absconded with nearly $350,000.

In her defense, Nina says she was attempting to prevent one of Rawls' two adult daughters from seizing the money. After all, why should his children inherit his life savings? They haven't been layed up under him for two years like Nina.

Rawls, 70, has sold more than 40 million albums and won three Grammys during a career spanning more than four decades. His hits include "Love is a Hurtin' Thing," "Dead End Street" and "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine."

Al Sharpton gives Viacom Hell and Still Cashes their Checks

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has plans to star in a new sitcom on CBS, says the deal will not stop him from outing the wrongdoings of corporate monstors...like his new parent company Viacom.

Sharpton is demanding that Viacom spend up to $3 million to fund city anti-violence programs in response to violent ads to promote 50-cent's flim "Get Rich or Die Trying" among others.

"If the price of doing the show is silence, then I won't be involved," Sharpton told the Daily News yesterday. "If it's between the two, I'm an activist first, and the [sitcom] can wait."
"We're seeing bloodshed in the city, and this is not a time to glorify violence," said Sharpton.

"It's certainly not a time to market it to our kids."

Sharpton and other Brooklyn leaders slammed the signs last month, charging that Paramount singled out poor and minority neighborhoods for its ad blitz. Unlike Jesse Jackson, Sharpton has discovered how to line his pockets and still remain relevant to "the struggle" or whatever it is he is pushing in terms of his own self-promotion and glorification.

Posted by Texas Tiger in NYC :: 1:44 PM :: 3 Comments:

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