Russell, Kimora Lee Simmons Split | Russell Simmons, Kimora Lee Simmons, Divorced : People.com

Russell, Kimora Lee Simmons Split | Russell Simmons, Kimora Lee Simmons, Divorced : People.com Aw c'mon y'all....this is the first bourgie hip-hop couple...the inventors of the ghetto fabulous lifestyle! From Hollis to Hatha Yoga, what's UP? Did Russell finally tell Kimora that Baby Phat gear is TA-CKY and she put him out?

Daily Views, Pop Culture, Rants, and News: My Feelings on a certain Lacrosse team in North Carolina

Daily Views, Pop Culture, Rants, and News: My Feelings on a certain Lacrosse team in North Carolina Next shape up is on the shop, Humanity Critic. Love ya for this one my brother. Much respect.

Patti Labelle "I'm Tired, But I'm FIERCE" Refutes "Breakdown Onstage" Reports

Singer Patti LaBelle Weeps on Stage *all together in your Charlie Murphy voices* "Wrong!... WRONG!" "I'm tired but I'm fierce!" is what Miss Patti Labelle says she told a Delray Beach, FL concert crowd, in an interview broadcast today on the Tom Joyner Morning Show radio program today. In the telephone interview Miss Patti stressed she did not have a breakdown on stage. She said the show was running 3 hours behind, and she was the headliner, so she felt she owed it to the crowd who'd stayed on for her to 'go on with the show.' "I'd worn this little mini dress tryin' to be cute", she stated, but what the news reports neglected to mention was it was also raining buckets at the outdoor concert, thus it had become quite cold by the time she went on around midnight. And, demonstrating she has what may be the most fiercely loyal and loving fan base in music, Miss Patti said no less than 7 fans peeled off various articles of clothing to give her to put on to keep warm, including one man's pair of pants. Miss Patti stated that her well-known diabetes and heart murmur are both in check and she is doing fine. Miss Labelle shows no signs of slowing down however, as she gave the phone interview on the way to the airport to catch a plane to Germany, to promote her HSN Patti Labelle clothing line. Work Miss Patti! We wanna be like you when we are 62. "Under the Dryer" was worried to death about you Ms. Girl; we are happy for your success and glad you are ok! *Big hug and diva air kisses* You are welcome here anytime! And we are adding you to Under the Dryer's "Don't Go There List" immediately. (EDITOR's NOTE: Any black woman's shop worth it's salt should know that goes without saying, but just in case...)

The Black Church's Response to this Hate Crime? (Queue the Crickets)

NOTE: This was also posted at the watchdog site for this case: Justice 4 Two Sisters. Angela Davis, one of my (s)heroes, said, "If they come for me in the morning, they'll come for you in the afternoon." Where did I learn this powerful saying? In a sermon by the great Rev.Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright,Jr., pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago IL. Yeah that's right, a black revolutionary, exegeted by a black theologian. The black church and civil/human rights have been galvanized since emancipation and before. Historically the black church has as a whole never backed down from attacks on our community or our people. When did this shift occur? Time was, the first entity in the black community who would have weighed in on the rape,brutalization, and racial terrorization of 2 African-American women by 3 white members of the Duke University Men's Lacrosse team would have been the black church, no question. The church has been our country club, our fraternity,sorority, alma mater, citizens action committee, finishing school, mission,homeless shelter, soup kitchen, et al since forever. No member of the black community could matriculate where we do, work where we do, eat where we do, walk where we do, or live where we do, if it were not for the black church...if not for preachers and mothers of the church, for protest marches and prayer meetings. Where is the black church on this issue? Now, let me be real. I know who we will not hear from. We will not hear from the so-called prosperity or 'word' church leaders who run the Sunday Morning Church Amusement Parks around the country that are focused on sowing seeds made of paper currency so they can reap a Gulfstream Jet or Rolls for themselves Haw-Lay-LOOOO-Yuh. We will not hear from empty-suit preachers like Rev. Patrick Wooden of Upper Room Church of God in Christ, in Raleigh NC, headline seekers who pop up at the holidays to denounce businesses who use Xmas in their advertising. Let's see ...sexual assault and hate crime VS. Xmas...which one do you think the Almighty is most grieved over? "Straining out gnats and swallowing camels" is what Jesus called this backward value system in the Gospel of Matthew. But I digress... Black church we need to hear from you and see you. Trust and believe if this was a Jewish girl who'd been brutalized, our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community, rabbis and members of synagogues around the area would converge on the Duke campus and let it be known this act of violence will not be tolerated. I beseech you to replace thesilence with the voice of the Black church. Our ancestors are waiting on you. If we don't, rest assured they will "come for you in the afternoon" as Sister Angela so eloquently aid.

Justice 4 Two Sisters: Where is the Duke Men's Lacrosse Team Coach Mike Pressler?

Justice 4 Two Sisters: Where is the Duke Men's Lacrosse Team Coach Mike Pressler? As I've watched this nightmare unfold on the alleged rape,sodomy, and racial terrization of 2 African-American women by 3 white members of the Duke University Lacrosse Team, I can't help but wonder: Where is the coach? According to the web, the head coach is Mike Pressler. Can you imagine if this happened to be the Duke University men's basketball team, and we'd not heard or seen Coack K? It's unfathomable right? Clearly someone has told the team, coach included to, in the words of TV crime dramas "lawyer up." Where is the leadership, discipline, and ethics here Coach Pressler? It is not a stretch to imagine if the Duke Men's Basketball team stood accused of violent assault and a hate crime on two women they'd hired to dance at a party, Coach K and staff would have them holed up in a room until this very minute and not come out until somebody's memory got better and told what they knew. I 'd also suspect scholarships would start getting taken away one by one if the former tactic didn't serve to jog somebody's memory. But more than that, we would have seen and heard from Coach K before now, I suspect the same day. At the college level, unlike the pros, there is, or should, be more than athletic coaching going on. These are still young kids, and they need guidance in all areas of their life, not just on the court or field. Who is going to provide it if their coach doesn't? Coach Presseler, acccording to a Duke website photo, you have a family and two young daughters. If 46 men stood accused of assaulting and terrorizing your daughters in this way what would you do? These young men need to see you stand up and do the right thing, not cover your own behind Coach. Click to email Coach Pressler

SI.com - NFL - Eagles' Jones arrested for dancing in street - Monday March 27, 2006 4:15PM

SI.com - NFL - Eagles' Jones arrested for dancing in street - Monday March 27, 2006 4:15PM I mean what kind of a world do we live in when you can't stretch out and getcha groove on in the street without getting arrested? In South Beach, Miami, no less? If you've never been, imagine someone took LA and New Orleans, shook them together and poured the resulting mixture out on Ocean Drive in Miami. The place is one big outdoor/indoor party. Most clubs don't even have walls in the front on them for goodness' sake. One could easily dance on out in the street and not even realize you've left the confines of Club Liquid or Crowbar. And the music? I DEFY you to stay still be it house, hip-hop, techno, or reggaeton. Now to the 'perpetrator'..... for the uninitiated, Dhani Jones is one of the most intellectual renassaince men to play in the NFL since Alan Page. In other words, he and TO are basically polar opposites. He's been a guest symphony conductor on numerous occasions with the Philadelphia Pops, and hires a classical pianist play classical music for him to unwind after games. Has his own silk bow tie company, 5 Star Ties. He paints, writes poetry, travels extensively. That and being fetchingly handsome in the Shop's opinion (winks). As far as I'm concerned, anybody who put up with TO for any season desereves to cut loose. So in the words of that great philospher, Busta Rhymes. "Get Low Dhani!" we ain't mad atcha sugar.

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill » Black woman gang raped by Duke athletes!!

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill » Black woman gang raped by Duke athletes!! Big hug and respect to Marc Lamont Hill at Barbershop Notebooks Blog for linking,posting and writing about this tragedy. You are welcome at 'The Shop' anytime love! Thanks for committing to keep the heat on and noise level high.

Team's silence is sickening by Ruth Sheehan

newsobserver.com | Local & State Ruth Sheehan, Staff Writer Members of the Duke men's lacrosse team: You know. We know you know. Whatever happened in the bathroom at the stripper party gone terribly terribly bad, you know who was involved. Every one of you does. And one of you needs to come forward and tell the police. Do not be afraid of retribution on the team. Do not be persuaded that somehow this "happened" to one or more "good guys." If what the strippers say is true -- that one of them was raped, sodomized, beaten and strangled -- the guys responsible are not "good." This seems an elementary statement, I know. But I can see loyal team members sitting around convincing themselves that it would be disloyal to turn on their teammates -- why, the guys who were involved were just a little "over the top." In real life, they're funny. They call their mothers once a week. They share class notes with friends. They attend church. On this night, they were just a little too drunk, a little too "worked up." It was a scene straight out of "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe. Indicative of the times. The alleged racial epithets slung at the strippers, who were black? Those were just ... jokes. Ditto for the ugly remarks overheard by a neighbor: "Thank your grandpa for my cotton shirt." Har, har. After all, these guys are not just Duke students, but student athletes. The collegiate dream. And the women? They were... strippers, for Pete's sake. I can see the team going down this path, justifying its silence. And it makes me sick. Because, of all the occupational hazards that must come with stripping, one of them should not be rape. And no, forced sex by a hunky prep student doesn't make it better. Unfortunately, because the team members are students at such a fine university, there is a tendency to presume that this was an aberration. That these players are "good guys." I see it in the references to the "Animal House" atmosphere allowed to flourish at the team captains' house. I sense it in the "dismay" expressed by athletics director Joe Alleva over the "situation" -- the hiring of the strippers and the (shocking!) serving of alcohol to underage teammates. But drunken parties are one thing. The implication that this event, if true, is somehow a bash that "got out of hand" is just plain wrong. Rape is not part of a spectrum of behavior, the regrettable end game when testosterone and beer are ignited by a shaking booty and fanned into flames by the larger team's permission. No. Rape is a crime. A very serious one. Those who commit it are criminals, not "good guys." I don't know what happened in that house, and in that bathroom, over in Durham. Ultimately, that will be a matter for the court system to decide. But who was in that room is something the police need to know. Now. They shouldn't have to wait for 46 DNA samples to be returned. Every member of the men's lacrosse team knows who was involved, whether it was gang rape or not. Until the team members come forward with that information, forfeiting games isn't enough. Shut down the team. Ruth Sheehan can be reached at 829-4828 or rsheehan@newsobserver.com.

Two Black Women Raped and Beaten by White Male Duke Lacrosse Team

I'm going to have to "Pick My Fro Out" again this week regarding a tragedy that just has the shop outraged this morning. Two African-American women, hired by the Duke University Lacrosse Team to dance at a party were allegedly raped, beaten, sodomized, and yes I'll say it because it is true, racially terrorized by at least 3 white members of the Duke University Lacrosse Team. Click Here for story from Raleigh News and Observer According to one of the victims, who remains hospitalized, one of the Duke University Lacrosse Team members yelled out to her "thank your grandpa for the cotton in my shirt!", and that is just one of the myriad of racial slurs shouted at these young sisters. There were allegedly 46 Duke University Lacrosse Team members in attendance at the house where this party was held, and only one of the 46 is black. I have 3 points I would like to make. 1. First to my two beautiful young African-American sisters who were brutalized: Babies, I want you to know God loves you, your brothers and sisters love you, I love you, and I am so terribly sorry about this senseless tragedy. No one deserves to have this happen to them,ever. 2. To Devon Sherwood, the lone African-American player on the Duke University Men's Lacrosse Team. (this is listed on Duke University Athletics public website www.goduke.com) I know you are a freshman, you are probably on scholarship, you are the only brother on this team. I'd be scared to death in some ways if I were you. Despite all this, I am appealing to you young soldier to come forward and tell what you know and or saw and see that these your sisters receive the justice they deserve. This could have been your mother, your sister, your cousin, your girlfriend,your classmate. They are college students just like you, one is a mother, trying to support her children and make a better life. What are you going to do? The activist Angela Davis said "If they come for me in the morning, they will come for you in the afternoon." Don't think you can't or won't be racially terrorized my brother. You OWE all the hundreds of thousands of our forbearer whose backs YOU stand on, who suffered, worked, protested,marched, sat-in, bled, and died so that you could go to an institution who historically did not always admit African-Americans to be educated or play organized sports. YOU OWE THEM DEVON. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? HOW LONG WILL YOU SIT AND LET THESE SISTERS SUFFER? 3. I am reaching out to all my brothers and sisters in the African-American community, especially in the blogging community, to link to this story and raise it to the global level. If you do not have a blog, email it to your distribution list. Of course I like to have fun with my blog like anyone, but if we are serious about what we do as blog journalists, THIS is where we can truly make an impact. I have launched a 'sub-blog' specifically on this issue: Justice4TwoSisters and will not rest until these sisters receive the vindication they deserver. Through this 'sub-blog' I'll reach out to anyone who I think will listen and make an impact. We must make sure this hate crime and brutalization does not get swept under the rug and excused away because of a "that's what they get" mentality. This heinous behavior has gone on for over 400 years, from the plantation to Duke University and we as a people must stand up and say "No More!". You and I can trust and believe right now if this were 2 white strippers brutalized by a majority black athletic team, it would be a "whole 'nother kinda party" right now. Please inbox or email me if you have any additional ideas. Thank you.

The Barbershop Notebooks Blog

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill

Uh Oh Uh Oh! MC Hammer Blog

MC Hammer Blog Really well done site...makes heavy use of mobile blogging with his sidekick.

Afro-Netizen™: Clooney's looney for citing 'Mammy'

On the regular, I will have to "Pick My 'Fro Out" on topics relative to the edification of the African-American community. These will be found in the category of the same name (Pick Out My 'Fro) in the sidebar. Look, Under the Dryer is an intelligent blog beauty shop too now; if you came for hair-n-fingernails-type conversation only, hit the 'Next Blog' button up top. Afro-Netizen™: Clooney's looney for citing 'Mammy' "We gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be part of this Academy. I'm proud to be part of this community."--George Clooney aka Danny Ocean in the films Ocean's 11 and 12 Chris Rabb, editor of the finest news blog in the 'sphere IMO, Afro-Netizen, is on it once again with this intelligent missive aimed at the short-sighted ignorant statement from ol' Danny Ocean himself. If the public forgot Clooney hails from Louisville, KY originally, he just refreshed our memory by taking us back to his ol' Kentucky home with this one. First let me level set: We could not sit in the back of the theater or anywhere on the first level in 1939 IF we could go at all. If allowed admittance, we were seated in the balcony,which became known as 'black man's heaven' for it's proximity to Glory, so to speak. If George Jefferson Clooney was up on his movie history, he'd know during this same era most of Lena Horne's movie parts were shot of her singing alone, so that the scene could be edited out for distribution to the segregated South. She was never part of the plot. So, with that said, you can imagine what we think of that little statue huh? Clooney seems here to be trying to "raise his game" from hunk to mogul/politico in Hollywood, but he can't seem to avoid getting his zapato stuck in his mouth on the way up . Further, unlike the authentic mogul/politicos in Tinsel Town, such as Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, Denzel Washington, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee et al, he seems to fail to realize you need to have some sense and class to go along with the little gold statue. Now, if Mr. Clooney had said "We gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 and have only awarded two more (to Whoopi Goldberg and Halle Berry ,for those playing along on the home version) to a black woman in the 57 years since, and I'm ashamed to stand here and accept this.", shoot I'd have given him Under the Dryer's "Sista-Pass of the Week" Award just on GP. But since he didn't, I can't...BUT I do have a solution to get Mr. Clooney on the proverbial Straight Street. I say let Mr. Clooney guest star on an episode of the new FX network reality series "Black and White." The premise is one white family and one black family "switch races" via the magic of Hollywood makeup artists. So, I make Mr. Clooney up as an African-American male actor for a week and follow him with the camera as he attempts to go on casting calls for movie roles other than buddy boys, pimps, hustlers, rapists, or what Spike Lee calls "the magical mystical negro"role, a'la Bagger Vance. Then come back and tell us Danny-boy how proud you are to be a member of The Academy.

Sista-Pass of the Month: Miss J. Alexander

UPN Normally this is awarded to non-African-American women who display that 'sista-swagger', but this week we had to make an exception. (This IS a beauty shop after all.) Miss J. is the runway coach/sycophant/semi-drag queen/judge on Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model. Miss J. has legs like no man I've ever seen, and better than MOST women, so the shop is not mad atcha. While it's a bit hard to stomach him criticizing the girls' looks when his head looks like the mop woman some days(*MEMO TO MISS J.; STOP BY UNDERTHEDRYER LOVE AND WE'LL GET THAT WASH AND SET HOOKED!), fierce must recognize fierce. Sista-Pass of the Week Winner: Miss J.Alexander. Work boyfriend, you are just OVAH!

Star Jones: Plastic Surgery Scare : People.com

Star Jones: Plastic Surgery Scare : People.com Very strange that Al had an accident the same day Starr had surgery. Boyfriend gets ghost a lot huh? hmmmmm

*Paging Dave Chappelle*Extreme Makeover: Prince Edition - March 20, 2006

Extreme Makeover: Prince Edition - March 20, 2006 *Editor's Note: the Under the Dryer Standard font has been changed to purple in honor of Prince for this post only. He will be added to the 'don't go there list' immediately. Please follow suit on any replies.* This will top the 'Playing Basketball with Prince" sketch on Chapelle's show by a mile.....Carlos Boozer doesn't seem like the most....how to put this politely?.... streetwise brother in the world... but baby what did you expect? Did you know who you were renting to? He wasn't gonna install Corian countertops and hang curtains. According to the suit filed by Boozer, Prince violated his lease by"painting the exterior of the [house] with purple striping, 'prince' symbol, and numbers 3121. Plus, he installed (I am not making this up) a hair salon down in the downstairs bedroom and ran pipes for the water for the shampoo bowls. I mean who knew Prince was a 'kitchen beautician"? This is not unusual in a black neighborhood, however I doubt Beverly Hills is zoned for that. Seriously sisters, this should not be a surprise, because we know short or long, Prince has rocked a "2-hours-under-the-dryer" wash-n-set since his zebra-Speedo-and-thigh-high-boots days. Got to keep ya wig tight, and I'm sure it's hard to get an appointment in that town for a touch-up. I chuckle at the thought of Prince coming home from the studio,little boots clicking down the walk, and there's a memo with a rubber band stapled to it, hanging from the doorknob of the mansion. (whoever invented that shoulda patented it, B.I.D.) Dear Mr. Rogers Nelson: You have 3 days to paint the walls back like they were when you moved in, or else you have to move. For real man. I'm not kidding buster. I can get Cherokee Parks, Shane Battier, and Christian Laettner to toss your short behind in a dumptster. You will need to obtain a cashier's check or money order to pay your $70,000 month rent. Signed, Carlos Boozer of C Booz LLC **queue the hammond b3 organ intro to "Let's Go Crazy"** This kinda puts losing your security depost for not filling in the nail holes in the wall in perspective heh?

I Ain't Sayin She a Golddigga....And We Have Eddie Murphy to Thank

Inspired by Human Critic's muse on "What I'd Do If I Won the Lotto" on his fine blog http://nappydiatribe.blogspot.com I posted the following comment. Can you explain the 'Mike Jones' phenomena among the brothers lately ie "back then ho's didn't want me/now I'm hot ho's all on me".?..(and I'm having a post brainstorm as I type this), but, I believe it started with Eddie Murphy's 2nd concert film. His monologue about "half" was like the shot heard round the black man's world. It launched the worst male self-preservation obsession since Fatal Attraction. It was as if Eddie was transformed into Sun Myung Moon in a leather suit with a texturizer...I was in college when that came out, and I never heard more "on-GSL-and-Pell-Grant-ain't- got-$2-to-get-in-to-the-Qs-party" brothers crying like Hari Krishnas "half! all y'all sistas want half my money! Eddie said so! (ok I added in that last part but you get the gist... 2 Things I'll say and then I'll let it alone. 1. Act right,treat ya lady right, and this all becomes a non-issue, however... 2. Sistas are like the mafia, we'll come after what you love if you cross us. If you love your money or your car,(rappers take heed) guess what's getting taken or keyed when you screw up?

On The Eve of a Potential Layoff...

Well not to bring the 'shop down, but I'm sitting here on the eve of what could be a layoff for me on the j-o-b y'all....I've by the grace of God managed to 'dodge the bullet' for ten-plus years, but this stuff is pure torture no matter how many times you go through it...and while you get used to it, you don't. I'd feel much better if they wouldn't put all the 'fluff' around it, but no the powers that be manage to make you life more of a real-life Dilbert cartoon than it already is for a week to ten days. "We don't know anything" means "we can't tell you yet" ....Do they really expect us to believe they crafted a charge-off of hundreds of millions of dollars in 48 hours? It feels like when someone breaks up with you and says "Its not you, its me....but I still want to be friends." That 'yeah right' that pops up in the speech bubble on top of your head? Same thing... So 'watch this space' y'all...

American Idol Finals Week 1: Steve Wonder Night

Personally, after last night's Stevie Wonder night on AI, I am sure Stevie knocked back a few shots of some type of brown liquor having to hear some of the AI-ites butcher his songs. Here's Under the Dryer's conclusions after week 1: 1. That little child that slam forgot the words to "Lately" makes me think AI should be performed at gunpoint. How in the WORLD? I thought she was speaking in tounges or something. Your game should be tight enought to sing your song with the judges holdin heat on you, or else risk getting some shots fired over your head. Secondly I think Randy and Simon must've taken some of Paula's pain pills from a few seasons ago for telling her that was her BEST performance. 2. It should be a Felony for Bucky Covington and Kelly Pickler to ever sing a Stevie Wonder song in public again. 3. MEMO to Paris Bennett: Honey we love ya here at the Shop, and we know your "Mee-Maw Ann Nesby has long money BUT, baby pick a weave and a style and stay with it. 4. Loved Mandisa's "Jill Scott move" taking her heels off before she sang because her dogs were botherin' her..You know how Jilly throws a shoe when she sings "Long Walk".....real sista all day...she has a career in recording and theater in my opinion. 5. Elliot, with an image makeover, is going to be a star. UD says a good fade, lighten the hair one shade all over, teeth whitener, and a goatee...boom! 6. Taylor Hicks, or Tay-Tay as I call him, is just so off the hook! Its like Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, and Michael McDonald had a love child,but they don't know who the father is. And for the saved folks out there, you will see like me that Taylor sings himself happy most of the time. That is a "Bapti-costal" 'Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy" he lets out when he finishes singin there.

Definition of a Butt-Whoopin: 13 Year-Old NJ Girl Lied About Abduction

FIRST LET ME SAY: I in no way condone adults having sexual contact with minors, teen or not, consensual or not. THAT SAID....from under the dryer, Miss Natasha would have the whoopin of her life for having me as her mother frightened out of her mind because SHE wanted to go get with some 19 year-old boy AND skip school. There would be no tearful welcome home, except the tears she felt when my hand tagged her behind. There are far TOO many children of color who go legitimately missing to tie up resources on a 13-year-old who wants to be grown. Speak on it.... Man Arrested for Sexual Contact With Girl Who Ran Away - New York Times

The Celebrity "Don't Go There" List

Everybody has one. Everybody's mama has one. This is the (usually) musical artist that you coudn't talk when their record was on when you were younger, lest you get popped. As well as the artist you cannot say anything bad about, again lest you get popped. For my mama, it is Whitney Houston. To her, Whitney is still the "One Moment In Time" Whitney, not the "Hell to the naw Bobb-ay!" Whitney. Whitney's never used drugs, she's "always sweat like that/been hyper like that/been skinny like that." Period. I almost stomped a friend of mine's foot into a pulp when she blabbed the rumor that was out several years ago about Whitney being gay. I thought we would have to give my aunt and mama oxygen on the spot "Wha'....what? I mean is this something she just started..." Just to show you I'm not immune to this line of thinking....here is my official "don't go there list" Jone-ing on any of those listed below will get you put out and deleted. ;-) Mariah Carey Chaka Khan Halle Berry Michael Jordan

Sista-Pass of the Month: The Gotti Women

In Break From Code, Gotti Women Soak Up Trial Spotlight - New York Times Funny how Victoria is clearly her father's daughter in terms of her fashion sense AND her lack of shyness for the cameras. If you recall, part of La Cosa Nostra's beef with Gotti was that he was so very public and in the media. If you had a chance to catch Victoria and family's reality series "Growing Up Gotti" you know that they are 'hood rich' but nevertheless PAID. And as you'll see in this article, John's widow. "big Victoria" Gotti has no problem going off in court at her son's trial (gotta love it!). Under the Dryer's 'Sister-Pass' of the week goes to... the Gotti Women.

My Favorite Cafeteria Chronicles

This place is a continual source of humor for me. Reason being, if you try to deviate in the slightest from the 'norm' in terms of ordering, requests,etc...it generally sends the whole place into a tailspin. I therefore decided to create a post category dedicated to my K&S experiences. Here are some from the archives: The sign says they close at 8:30pm. However, if you arrive after 8pm, don't expect to get served for carry-out, well at least not at the carry-out counter (more on that later). I walked into this unaware one Sunday night and was told "Well....well you have to just go down the line and tell us what you want." (To myself: WHAT?) When I passed part of the staff stacked up in the doorway with their purse under their arm at 7:45, that should have been a clue huh? Once when I ate in, the cashier beat on the bell with a STAPLER like she was trying to kill a roach. This was to tell the attendant to take a tray out to an elderly person. Why the bell was not within arms' length, I do not know. Ordering a vegetable plate is like the space shuttle countdown. Now apparently you get 4 sides, but they don't tell you this. So you tell them what you want, and apparently there is a silent countdown going on in the server's head simlutaneously that you are not aware of. So it goes something like: "I want corn (server 4), green beans (server 3), peas (server - 2), and mashed potatos (server 1 and liftoff) to wit they immediately launch your plate down the metal shelf like a game of culinary shuffleboard. No "is that all" no "would you like something else?" just 4,3,2,1...NEXT! If they are out of something, they are out. Do not ask if more is coming out unless you want to be dogged out to the chef by the server, and loudly. This is proceeded by an attitude fueled stop to the metal swinging doors to the kitchen, followed by hand on hip "You gon' have anymore turkey and dressing? I TOOOOLD her we ain't got no more she shoulda got here at 12."

The Black Superbowl

This is just a riot...if you've ever wanted to attend all the 'festivities' around the NBA All-Star Game, this is a 'fly on the wall' essay. More later... ESPN.com: Page 2 : Welcome to the Super Bowl

Under the Dryer Awards for the Week Late-Pass(issued to me): The Black-Eyed Peas...HOW did I sleep on them? I just heard the NBA jingle and the radio cuts which I thought were lame, and that joint with Justin Timberlake ugh! Listening to the whole body of their work they've created, they are amazing. They seem to fill the void left by The Fugees. Sista-Pass: Gwen Stefani. Gwen's just got flavor for days. Others to be given at my whim...

Southern Culture Shock... ...not being a native Southerner, I am continually amused, delighted, and tickled by some of the cultural difference I've encountered in my years here....here is one. I've noticed that older southern black women often refer to/call their husbands by their last names. I am curious as to the origin of this really....many times I'll hear "Well I told Fitzgerald we need to go on vacation" or "Me and Fitzgerald went to the store", Fitzgerald obviously being the last name. I think it is so cute, but have no clue where this comes from.