She was one of the shining stars of science fiction, a woman who rose from the humblest of origins to become one of the leading ladies of her genre.

Octavia Butler has died in a tragic, senseless accident, at the age of 58.

Octavia E. Butler, considered the first black woman to gain national prominence as a science fiction writer, died after falling and striking her head on the cobbled walkway outside her home, a close friend said. She was 58.

Butler was found outside her home in the north Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park after the accident Friday, and died the same day. She had suffered from high blood pressure and heart trouble and could only take a few steps without stopping for breath, said Leslie Howle, who knew Butler for two decades and works at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle.

Butler's work wasn't preoccupied with robots and ray guns, Howle said, but used the genre's artistic freedom to explore race, poverty, politics, religion and human nature.

"She stands alone for what she did," Howle said. "She was such a beacon and a light in that way."

Fellow Seattle-based science fiction authors Greg Bear and Vonda McIntyre said they were stunned by the news and called it a tremendous loss, and science-fiction Internet sites quickly filled with posts dedicated to her.

"We've lost the most intelligent and capable voice in the genre," one fan wrote. "Octavia was the SciFi I picked up when I realized that there could be more to SciFi/fantasy than simple escapism."

She was, and remains, the only science fiction writer to receive a genius grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

I was not a devotee of Ms. Butler’s work, but I held her in high esteem. She is one of those authors who my students introduced me to during my years teaching English. There was something in her style, and her personal story, that spoke to my students, especially my black girls who found a role model in Ms. Butler. And I believe it is that, most of all, that leaves me with a sense of loss – she inspired my children to read, and to think.

Posted by: Greg at 06:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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To paraphrase Homer Simpson, "Celebrities -- what don't they think they know?"

Pamela Anderson is boycotting the Kentucky Derby. The 38-year-old actress, who is an animal rights activist, says her opposition to animal cruelty in all its forms means she can never go back to the famed horse race.

"It makes me want to avoid Kentucky altogether, which is sad because there are so many great people there," Anderson said in a statement released Tuesday by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Anderson, a PETA member who attended the Derby in 2001 and 2003, has been involved in anti-fur ads and a campaign to raise awareness of what she calls abuse of chickens in processing plants that supply poultry to Louisville-based KFC.

"Like most people, I don't want to support cruelty to animals, whether it's forcing horses to race for our amusement or scalding chickens alive for our plate," Anderson said. "We have to be more evolved than this."

Last month, Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher refused Anderson's request to have a bust of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders removed from the state Capitol. Fletcher cited Sanders as a state icon and KFC called Anderson's attack a misguided publicity stunt.

You know, Pamela Anderson is simply a bubble-headed, buble-breasted celebrity with an opinion. It isn't based upon anything substantial, but she somehow thinks that the fact she looks marginally good in a swimsuit makes her an expert about things.

But remember -- this is one of those folks who thinks it is a good idea to videotape sex acts with her spouse and leave them lying around where others can get their hands on them. That should tell you all that you need to know about her judgement.

So this may, pass me some white meat and a mint julep on Derby Day.

Posted by: Greg at 11:52 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've always loved the song, and never even considered teh race issue.

DURHAM, N.H. - A ’70s rock song used to rally fans at University of New Hampshire hockey games for perhaps a decade, “Black Betty,” is no more.

Athletic Director Marty Scarano told the campus newspaper The New Hampshire that the rollicking 1977 song by Ram Jam was banned because it is “theoretically racist.”

The NAACP deemed the Ram Jam version of the old song offensive to black women three decades ago, and UNH has received intermittent complaints about it for years, the Concord Monitor reported yesterday.

Two years ago, a student group that studied diversity at the school said it should be banned. Scarano said a more recent complaint pushed him to outlaw it, but he did not say who complained.

Dominated by repetitive “na-na-na-na-nas,” “bam-ba-lams” and the exclamation “Black Betty!” the song has been played at the starts of the second and third periods of UNH hockey games for more than a decade, according to a school Web site.

I'm offended by the ban -- I guess that means they will have to ban the ban on "Black Betty".

Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Black Betty had a child (Bam-ba-Lam)
The damn thing gone wild (Bam-ba-Lam)
She said, "I'm worryin' outta mind" (Bam-ba-Lam)
The damn thing gone blind (Bam-ba-Lam)
I said Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)

Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
She really gets me high (Bam-ba-Lam)
You know that's no lie (Bam-ba-Lam)
She's so rock steady (Bam-ba-Lam)
And she's always ready (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)

Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
She's from Birmingham (Bam-ba-Lam)
Way down in Alabam' (Bam-ba-Lam)
Well, she's shakin' that thing (Bam-ba-Lam)
Boy, she makes me sing (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty BAM-BA-LAM

By the way, if anyone bothered to check, the song is the product of that great ofl bluesman, Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter.

Posted by: Greg at 03:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I would have to speculate that the team won't be drafting hometown hero Vince Young with that #1 pick. This kind of contract really means that Carr will remain quarterback for the forseeable future here in Houston.

The Texans exercised the three-year, $8 million option bonus on quarterback David Carr's contract this week and expect to hire Mike Sherman as assistant head coach/offensive line next week.

Although Carr's extension has been widely reported since November, when owner Bob McNair first said he would give the quarterback the $8 million before the last game of the season — Sunday's Pro Bowl — it wasn't official until this week.

An announcement is expected today.

Not only does the extension give Carr the $8 million bonus, but he receives base salaries of $5.25 million in 2006, $5.5 million in 2007 and $6 million in 2008.

The first pick in the 2002 draft, Carr earned $22 million in his first four years with the Texans, not including incentive bonuses. Barring a career-ending injury or restructuring of his contract for salary-cap purposes, he'll earn $46.75 million over the first seven years of his career.

I'm still thinking that we need D'Brickashaw Ferguson, the offensive lineman from Virginia, but we would have to trade down in the draft a few spots -- he is a great player, but not great enough to be the first overall pick. I'm unable to think of an offensive lineman in years who would have been.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I don’t see how the Boondocks creator, whose career began as a protégé of Jayson Blair, is even entitled to call himself a cartoonist any more.

“The Boondocks” now runs in 300 papers but Aaron McGruder no longer draws it. He outsourced that duty to Jennifer Seng, a Boston artist, explaining that he thinks he's a better writer than artist.

* * *
In similar style to the strip, the cartoon series is outsourced. McGruder flew to Seoul, Korea to oversee the initial animation.

Seems to me that Aaron McGruder, a left-wing radical who has become a corporate sell-out and does not even do his own artwork for his cartoon, is probably best described by the words he placed in the mouth of Rev. Martin Luther King in a recent episode of his creation’s Cartoon Network show – a “trifling, shiftless, good for nothing nigger”.

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This is just sick. And not just because of the casting of a no-talent skank like Britney Spears as a Christian.

Britney Spears will guest star on an episode of "Will & Grace," NBC announced Tuesday.

The pop star will appear as a Christian conservative sidekick to Sean Hayes' character, Jack, who hosts his own talk show, on the April 13 episode, the network said.

Jack's fictional network, Out TV, is bought by a Christian TV network, leading to Spears contributing a cooking segment called "Cruci-fixin's."

Utterly tasteless!

Posted by: Greg at 12:18 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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