Friday, September 19, 2008
Teesee`s Town: Friends of La Rabida to salute Merri Dee at ‘Big
Top Ball’
Free Money for Teens–The Illinois Commission on Diversity and
Human Relations is giving students, ages 12-16 years, a $40 savings
account to jump-start their future savings. It’s all taking
place Saturday, Sept. 20, at Fenger Academy high school, 11250 S.
Wallace, beginning at 9 a.m. Registration closed earlier this week,
but there are a few spots left. Participating banks include National
City, Washington Mutual (WaMu), Harris, Charter One and TCF. A parent
must accompany each student. To get on board, hurry and call Kandias
Conda at (773) 495-5585. Good luck!Attn: Jazz Junkies!–The Hyde
Park Jazz Society welcomes vocalist Everett Greene to the CheckerJazz
stage at the Checkerboard Lounge, 5201 S. Harper (northeast corner of
Harper Court) on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m.– 11:30 p.m.
Admission: only $10; $5 for students over 21 with college/university
IDs.
A favorite of many Chicagoans, the Indianapolis resident “has a
voice that sounds like it was dipped in hot fudge–a kind of
cross between Joe Williams and Arthur Prysock,” so say critics
in the know. He has worked with such greats as Junior Mance and Gerald
Wiggins, Groove Holmes, Melvin Rhyne, Houston Person, Lou Donaldson
and David “Fathead” Newman. Remember, you can bring your dinner if you
wish, have a great evening of jazz and still be home at a
“respectable” hour. Come for one set or stay for the evening–all
for one price.Anniversary Affair–Christian Fields Style Bar,
6550 S. Cottage Grove, celebrates its first year anniversary,
“The Carnivale,” on Saturday night, Sept. 20, at its
Woodlawn facility, showing appreciation to its customers, clients and
the media “who have made it all possible.”“On
Air”– CBS 2 Chicago will broadcast live for the very first
time from its new, state-of-the-art building on Sunday, Sept. 21, at
10 p.m. Located in the heart of Chicago at 22 W. Washington (at
Dearborn), the CBS 2 Broadcast Center is an all-digital, high-
definition facility that faces Daley Plaza and the iconic Picasso
statue in Chicago’s Loop.“This is the first television
station in Chicago that has been designed and built from the ground up
as a high-definition facility,” says Joe Ahern, president and
general manager. “The new building is a centerpiece for
information and community service. Our street-front presence allows us
to interact with the public like never before and to provide our
neighbors with breaking news, weather, sports scores and
more.”The facility features a street-level, glass-walled news
studio, as well as an anchor desk and interview set which look out
onto Daley Plaza. A 19-feet high video wall on the outside of the
building serves as an information resource for the thousands of
pedestrians who pass through the area each day. The video wall
features CBS Outdoor 10mm video imagery, providing the highest
resolution in an outdoor environment. It will be programmed with all
local and national newscasts, syndicated programs like The Rachael Ray
Show and Dr. Phil, sports and special events. The video wall will also
be a source for breaking news, weather and for live coverage of major
events on Daley Plaza. The building will also serve as the new home of
the CBS Network News Chicago Bureau.
In celebration of the new CBS 2 Broadcast Center, the station will
broadcast a series of special programs and news stories. A historical
retrospective celebrating the past, present and future of CBS 2 will
air at 6 a.m., 1 p.m. and 10:35 p.m. as the station closes its
historic building on McClurg Ct. A live report from the new space
during the 10 p.m. newscast will bring viewers inside the building for
a behind-the-scenes look. Heart of Chicago will examine the history of
Block 37, feature an interview with Mayor Daley, and highlight the
Chicago Loop and the station’s new location surrounded by
businesses, government, theaters, parks and shopping. The program will
look back at some of the most significant news stories and events of
the last 50 years, including the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate, the first
televised presidential debate, which originated from the McClurg Ct.
studios. Tune in!Write On!–Omar Tyree, the New York Times’
best-selling author, comes this way Saturday, Sept. 20, as the special
guest for the Authors and Artists’ Chicago Book Fair, themed
“The Last Chapter: Exploring the Endless Possibilities of
Literature and Culture.” Sponsored by 220 Communications, it
will be held at Columbia College, 623 S. Wabash, from 1 p.m.–6
p.m. Admission: $10, which includes a raffle ticket for a trip to Las
Vegas, panel discussions and prize giveaways totaling $1,000. A
portion of the proceeds will benefit The Urban Literacy Project, says
Glenn Murray, coordinator. Besides Tyree, some 20 other writers,
artists, filmmakers will be on hand. For more details, call (886)
533-9884 or visit http://www.authorsandartistslive.com.The Grand Ballroom of
Four Seasons Hotel will take on a circus atmosphere when Friends of La
Rabida Children’s Hospital hosts its annual fundraiser on Friday
honoring Merri Dee,WGN-TV’s retiring community relations
director and its Children’s Charities’ manager. The Big
Top Ballcommittee is co-chaired by Joli Burrelland Bob Arthur,and
since the mid-80s, the group has raised millions of dollars for
various clinics and service programs at La Rabida, the only hospital
in the country solely dedicated to children with lifelong medical
conditions or who have suffered abuse and neglect. Located on the
southern shores of Lake Michigan (at 65th St.), La Rabida has been
caring for children for 112 years, regardless of their ability to pay.
Proceeds from the black tie dinner will support the Joli Burrell
Children’s Advocacy Centers (in Chicago and Park Forest), which
serve kids with traumatic experiences, such as sexual abuse, physical
abuse, burns, witnessing family violence and violent crimes. Among
planning committee members: Linda Johnson Rice, Diane Dinkins Carr,
Lyle Logan, Heather Morris, Jacqueline N’Namdi, Regina
Danielsand lots of others. ABC 7’s Cheryl Burtonis emcee; actor
author Steve Schrirripais host. The evening kicks off with cocktails
at 7 p.m. Individual $500 tickets can be reserved by calling La-Verne
Mathews,(773) 753-9602.
Newsy Names–“Highlyhilarious” and
“scrumptiously unscripted” is how Yvette Moyodescribes
Real Men Charities’ second annual Roast & Toast on Dec. 13 at
South Shore Cultural Center, celebrating state Senate President Emil
Jones,soon to be retired.
Cong. Danny Davis(7th), Ill. Commerce Commissioner Lula Ford, Judge E.
Kenneth Wright, Dr. Herbert C. Harris, Dr. Lewis Baskins, Atty. Thomas
Vaughnand ShoreBank’s Robert Nashreceive “Distinguished
Alumni” honors from the University of Arkansas at Pine
Bluff’s Chicago Chapter at its Black Gold Scholarship Dinner-
Dance on Sept. 27 at Chateau Bu-Sche
(location changed from Harambee House). Spear heads: Bobbie Dixon
Heard,chair; Doris Odem,president. For tickets, call (312) 842- 4974.
Hosea Sanders,ABC 7’s early morning (5-7 a.m.) news anchor, is
MIA (missing in action), recovering for four-six weeks from hip
replacement surgery. Ouch!
Happy b’day to Marcus Alston(Danielle Ashley Communications),
Monique Young(Defender layout artist), Ron Childs(Flowers
Communications) and Valinda Jones(Sixth Grace Presbyterian Church).
Makin’ History–Eartha Kitt,81, (born Eartha Mae Keithin
North, S.C.), an international show-biz legend indeed (stage, screen
and recordings), will be saluted by Julieanna Richardsonand The
HistoryMakerson Saturday with a PBS-TV special, An Evening with Eartha
Kitt,to air in February ’09. The interview and performance (Kitt will
sing several of her signature hits) will be videotaped before a live
audience at Northwestern U’s Thorne Auditorium. Washington
Week’saward-winning correspondent Gwen Ifillwill conduct the
interview and host the career retrospective; Merri Deewill emcee. The
HistoryMakers,a national non-profit, is the world’s largest
African American archival collection.
A performer in the truest sense of the word, Kitt’scareer has
spanned over six decades. She’s an author, two-time Daytime Emmy
winner who’s raised over a million dollars to benefit African
American schools and frequently gives benefit performances for
HIV/AIDS organizations. In 1968, you remember, she encountered a
professional setback when she made anti-war remarks at a White House
luncheon, reportedly causing first lady Lady Bird Johnsonto cry. Just
last year, Kittco-starred in an independent film, And Then Came
Love,with Vanessa Williamsand Ben Vereen.An Evening With Eartha Kittis
the 14th program in The HistoryMakers’PBS-TV series, which so
far has raised in excess of $7 million for the development of the
priceless archive. Support for Saturday’s event has come from
McDonalds, Discover Financial Services, Coca-Cola, Aon, Best Portion
Foundation, Allstate, Verizon, Walgreens, ITW, American Airlines,
Chicago Tribune,Sprint and Palmer House Hilton. Call (312) 674-1900.
TV-OP Fest–Milana L. Walter,former NBC 5 exec, is the brains
behind TV-OP 2008 International Television Festival this Friday and
Saturday at Columbia College Chicago’s Film Row, 1104 S. Wabash.
The second annual two-day event, “Creating Program Diversity and
Career Opportunities in TV and Broadband Programming,” will
focus on opening doors of opportunity for professionals of color and
women in the powerful medium of television, Waltersays. “The
only one of its kind, it was created to advocate diversity in front of
and behind the cameras, and connect entrepreneurial creators of
viable, entertaining productions with global companies in need of
quality content.” Newly christened TV-OP, the fest follows the
successful soft introduction in 2007 at the Black Harvest Film
Festival. Nielsen Media Research and TV One have returned to join
Columbia College as the presenting sponsors of this effort to expose
talented producers with their multicultural stories and varied
viewpoints to key industry decision-makers. In 2007, the festival
awarded Joseph L. Lewis lland Eugene Haynes,co-creators of the
animated pilot, The Adventures of Teddy P. Brains,an all-expense-paid
trip to TV One headquarters to meet and pitch their executives. It
also honored Emmy winner, Barbara E. Allen,with the first Chicago TV
Excellence Award for her work on Paper Trail: 100 Years of The Chicago
Defender,and featured panel discussions and presentations by top execs
such as Johnathan Rodgers,TV One’s CEO; Bruce DuMont,Museum of
Broadcast Communications’ president; Ken Smikle,Target Market
News’ president; Jenny Alonzo,Lifetime Entertainment’s
former SVP.
Amy Hilliard, Brenda Sextonand Abe Thompsonco-chair Saturday’s
Awards Ceremony, which will induct Nat King Colein TV-OP’s Hall
of Fame for his groundbreaking television show that ran for 64
consecutive episodes, 1956-1957. His twin daughters, Timolinand Casey
,co-founders of the Nat King Cole Generation of Hope Foundation Inc.,
will accept the award. Also honored: creators of multicultural TV
productions, including vintage TV and reality shows, plus comedy,
drama, animation and documentaries. For tickets to the fest and info
on the extensive, jam-packed schedule, visit or call (312) 588-1500.
Breakfast Bonus–ESPNcolumnist-commentator Scoop Jacksonaddresses
the 111th Man-Boy Breakfast hosted by Concerned Christian Men on
Saturday at Simeon Career Academy and Prof. James Wilson“unlocks
the secrets to success in math.” Spirited sports competition is
on the agenda, and always welcome at this monthly tradition are men 18
and over ($5 donation) and young men 6-17 (free).Call George Glenn,CCM
founder, (773) 401-0025; email christianmen.org. CCM is celebrating 13
years serving African American youngsters.
Mardi Gras Fun–Weara colorful mask and join ComEd’s Angel
Perezand CitizenGroup’s Bill Garthon Friday at Chatham Business
Association’s Annual Awards Gala & Mardi Gras Celebration at the
Holiday Inn Mart Plaza. Other hosts include Joseph Caldwell, Dr.
Felicia Blasingame, Leonard Harrisand Monica Thomas.Call (773)
994-5006.
On Air–Paul Lisnek,Comcast CN 100 anchor, has joined
WVON’s weekend lineup as host of his self-titled radio show that
airs Sundays, 4-5 p.m., live on 1690 AM and streamed live on WVON.com,
says Melody Spann-Cooper,president/GM. Lisnekalso hosts Political
Updateon CN 100 (The Comcast Network), anchors Newsmakerson CNN
Headline News, serves as a political analyst for WGN-TV and his
analysis, and commentary has been heard on NBC’s Today Showand
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.For some, he’s been a regular
guest on radio icon Cliff Kelley’sshow, discussing all things
politics, law, entertainment and current events.
The Defender is on MySpace. Will you add us to your friends list?
(Link in top right corner)
Search Engine News 
Religulous movie’s maher religious don’t
October 1, 2008Bill Maher is on his soapbox, looking like a lunatic and holding court
in London’s Hyde Park. A crowd forms around the American talk show
host, who is disguised in glasses and a funny hat as he preaches that
aliens have infected our souls and only Scientology provides the
answer. “Xenu brought us here 75 million years ago, stacked us around
volcanoes and blew them up with an H-bomb. You have to rid yourself of
the implants from the extraterrestrial dictators,” Maher says,
imploring folks to use an e-meter, Scientology’s primary tool, to
measure their Thetan level and determine the imprint of these aliens.
This scene appears in Maher’s new documentary, “Religulous,” and it
prompted roars of laughter from an audience at a screening last month.
But it is just the setup. Maher’s punch line, which comes from a
comedy club clip, has nothing to do with the 55-year-old religion —
often called a cult — that’s turned Tom Cruise into such a weirdo.
“Jesus with the virgin birth and dove and snake who talks in a garden
— that’s cool,” Maher says. “But the Scientologists, they’re the
crazy ones.” Comedian and political commentator Maher, host of HBO’s
“Real Time With Bill Maher” and before that “Politically Incorrect” on
ABC and Comedy Central, has become known for attacking drug laws,
organized religion and PC sensibilities. On Oct. 3, his biggest battle
— Maher v. God — will hit theaters. It’s not a mockumentary, but
some of the real-life religious folks in “Religulous” could well have
been in “This Is Spinal Tap.” The film is a series of interviews,
often more debates than conversations, tied together with Maher’s
reflections as he travels between locations. With a talk show host’s
benefit of always getting the last word, Maher outwits, outquips,
outthinks and outperforms his victims. And his subjects — the
evangelical Christian who directs the Human Genome Project, a U.S.
senator, an anti-Zionist rabbi and a Muslim rapper who loves suicide
bombers — are the victims here. Maher’s bias is clear even in his
title’s marriage of “religious” and “ridiculous.” “What I am saying is
if you are religious at all, you are an extremist,” Maher said in a
phone interview last week, later adding, “There is no doubting that
there are brilliant people who are religious…. People find ways to
wall off areas of their mind — that is why I use that phrase,
‘neurological disorder.'” So why did Maher’s subjects sit down with
him? It’s difficult to imagine any religious person familiar with his
politics and godlessness actually agreeing to an interview. The fact
is, nobody knew whom they were dealing with until it was too late. “We
never, ever used my name,” Maher told the L.A. Times’ Patrick
Goldstein of how the interviews were arranged. “We never told anybody
it was me who was going to do the interviews. We even had a fake title
for the film. We called it ‘A Spiritual Journey.'” This art of
deception is only one of the very evident fingerprints of director
Larry Charles, who mastered this skill as director of “Borat: Cultural
Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.”
“Religulous” avoids Eastern religions, worrying only about fanaticism
in the Abrahamic faiths — Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Maher
considers himself a former member of two of the three. His father was
Irish Catholic, and that was how Maher was raised as a child. “It
wasn’t relevant to my life,” Maher says in the film, “Superman was
relevant, and baseball cards.” In his teens, Maher discovered why his
mother never joined the rest of the family at church: She was Jewish.
“I never even knew I was half-Jewish until I was a teenager,” he said
on “Larry King Live” in 2002. “I was just so frightened about the
Catholics and everything that was going on there in the church — and
I was never, you know, molested or anything. And I’m a little
insulted. I guess they never found me attractive. And that’s really
their loss.” Irreverence is Maher’s trademark. In the film, he calls
Jesus “nuts” and Moses “cuckoo.” He considers himself a contemporary,
though much younger, of the late George Carlin, founder of
frisbeeterianism. (When I asked readers of for any questions they had
for Maher, a career church leader wanted to know whether “he’s always
been a douche bag, or is this a new look and feel for him.”) “I always
felt religion was a giant elephant in the room of comedy gold and that
people don’t laugh at it simply because they are used to it,” he said.
This is what could make “Religulous” so difficult for the God-fearing:
It is positively entertaining. Maher visits the Creation Museum in
Hebron, Ky., and Orlando’s Holy Land Experience; he tongue-ties the
brilliant geneticist Francis Collins and walks out of an interview
with Rabbi Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta International — “Never again,
rabbi.” His religious journey takes him from the Valley of Armageddon
in Israel to the Trucker’s Chapel in Raleigh, N.C. An interview with a
Muslim minister in Amsterdam is interrupted by the imam’s cellphone
ringtone, which is Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.” When Maher asks Sen. Mark
Pryor (D-Ark.) how people who believe in the Bible’s creation story
could be helping to run the most powerful country in the world, the
senator plays into his hand: “You don’t have to pass an IQ test to be
in the Senate, though,” Pryor responds. At times, Maher’s interviews
are frightening, like when the Muslim rapper Propa-Ghandi defends the
19-year-old fatwa against Salman Rushdie for “The Satanic Verses” and
argues that his music, which praises suicide bombers, shouldn’t be
censored. The trailer The so-called New Atheists — bestselling
authors who appeal to science, logic and intellectual elitism —
typically preach only to the choir. “I don’t like the term atheist
because, to me, that is as rigid as religion is,” Maher said. “I
preach the doctrine of ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t know and I don’t think
it should matter. I don’t think people should be so obsessed. Give
yourself a break. You don’t have to worship something, you don’t have
to worship something that is really just in your head, that you made
up.” But Maher avoids two of these major trappings — he can’t help
the high-minded snobbery — and sticks to what he is good at: comedy.
“I think Jesus was probably an awkward teen — big Jewfro, bad at
sports,” he says in the film, at which point a clip of Jonah Hill from
“Superbad” flashes on the screen: “Here I am!” And what better way to
discredit something than to make belief in it laughable? With his
Catholic and Jewish backgrounds, Maher should feel guiltier than
anyone about such heathen humor. But instead, the religious moviegoer
is the only one worrying about God’s forgiveness. “Religion comes off
as looking at best ridiculous in Bill Maher’s new film ‘Religulous.’
But the early buzz has also been correct: Brilliant,” I wrote on The
God Blog the day after seeing a screening. “And so I’ve spent the past
13 hours wondering if there was something wrong with my enjoying the
movie.” But quickly my feelings of guilt faded into an understanding
that the film is a guilty pleasure. “Religulous” is hilarious and
poignant because it pokes fun not just at things that bother Maher,
but that bother countless among the faithful: violence in God’s name,
seeing science as a religious bogeyman, End Times theology. “The only
appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not
arrogant certitude, but doubt,” Maher says in the film’s closing five-
minute monologue, which shifts the tone to dead serious. “The plain
fact is, religion must die for man to live,” he says. For being anti-
religious, he sure is preachy.
The outdoor event, under extensive security, was an old-fashioned
lift-your-voices, wave-the-flag celebration, with a little bit of
everything. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rang the rafters,
pledging his city’s unbreakable bond with Israel and ending with a
rousing “Am
The outdoor event, under extensive security, was an old-fashioned
lift-your-voices, wave-the-flag celebration, with a little bit of
everything. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rang the rafters,
pledging his city’s unbreakable bond with Israel and ending with a
rousing “Am
Joseph Stalin is reputed to have said, “Those who cast the votes
decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” I think
he had it half right.
Serving a community of 600,000, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los
Angles is the largest Jewish weekly outside New York City. Our award-
winning paper reaches over 150,000 educated, involved and affluent
readers each week.
Tags:anti zionist, bill maher, comedy central, comedy club, crazy ones, h bomb, human genome project, hyde park, mockumentary, muslim rapper, political commentator, punch line, real time with bill maher, religious folks, religulous, spinal tap, suicide bombers, talk show host, thetan level, this is spinal tap
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