Where Do You Know Me From? I Haven't The Foggiest.

Totally random observation: why do people, when they meet someone who looks familiar say, "Where do I know you from?"

I get this a lot. I must have a familiar face or a twin who really gets around, because oftentimes people whom I've never met in my life claim they've seen me somewhere before.

 

I have a pretty good memory, but I'm not immune to forgetfulness. I've worked at newspapers my entire adult life, a profession that has enabled me to attend a lot of public events that, otherwise, I wouldn't have even known about. 

So it's likely that there are many people I may have met once or twice in passing at an event, or maybe even interviewed, but I don't remember them because so much time has gone by and I've met so many people since then. I'm not one of those "I never forget a face" people - it's next to impossible to remember everyone!

The "where do I know you from?" question makes me feel like I'm on the defensive. I feel obligated to list my résumé, school alma maters and hobbies  so that something on the list might jog your memory of where you recognize me from: "Well, I write for a newspaper and I cover a lot of events, so you may have seen at..."

Instead of asking, "Where do I know you from?" a more socially adept way of posing this question might be something like this: "You know, you look kind of familiar. Is it possible we may have met before?" Followed by a brief description of who you are, what you do and your hunch about where we may have crossed paths.
 

This is an invitation to engage in a dialogue that doesn't put the other person on the spot. Whereas "where do I know you from?" is a challenge for me to do the impossible: jump inside your head and rummage through the disorganized, mislabeled storage bins of your memory.

 

'Green Card' Movie Raises More Complex Questions Than Answers About Immigration

Green Card Warriors is a dramatic film starring Vivica A. Fox and Manny Perez (Washington Heights) about the plight of undocumented immigrants. The movie, which has just been released on DVD, is very timely, considering the media's current focus on children from Central America seeking asylum in the States.

Perez plays Jesus, the father of two teenage sons, Beto (Mario Ardila Jr.) and Angel (Angel Amaral). Undocumented immigrants from El Salvador living in inner-city Los Angeles, Jesus, his wife, their two sons and baby daughter are just trying to lay low and follow the rules and obtain legal citizenship.

Watch the trailer for Green Card Warriors by clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoN99wxx7Hw

Beto and Angel are also trying to resist being recruited by a local street gang. Their father sees an opportunity to get Beto, his eldest son, away from the dangers of the streets when Beto is recruited by the U.S. military, with dubious promises of earning citizenship by serving the country.

Fox plays Gabrielle, the mother of a beautiful teenage girl named Jazmine (Paige Hurd) whom Angel, the younger brother, falls in love with. The teens strike up a forbidden affair that is like a cross-cultural Romeo and Juliet.

The black family's reaction to finding out Jazmine is dating a Latino boy is somewhat unclear. The girl's father (McKinley Freeman) and stepfather (Will Green)  jump to the conclusion that the boy is in a gang and forbid the girl to see him. The reaction of Fox's character, however, is murky. 

When her ex informs her that their daughter is dating "a Hispanic," Fox's character initially reacts with a shrug, saying, "So?" But she doesn't exactly shout from the rooftops that blacks and Latinos are equals and that love knows no cultural boundaries.

It's a bit disappointing that Green Card Warriors doesn't do more to emphasize the common ground shared by blacks and Hispanics, other than the boy and girl's taboo attraction to one another. And in this day and age, is an interracial relationship really a taboo, especially between teens from the millennial generation who are used to seeing a black family in the White House?

Without giving away too much of the plot, suffice it to say that Green Card Warriors doesn't have a happy ending. It presents a bleak picture of the lives of undocumented immigrants.

Directed by and written by Miriam Kruishoop, the movie's overall message seems to be that the U.S. immigration system is deeply dysfunctional, and that the only ones who stand much chance of benefiting from the American dream are those who were fortunate enough to be born here.  

 

There are similarities between Green Card Warriors and 2011's A Better Life (read my review of that well-done movie by clicking this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-better-life-textbook-example-in-good.html). Both portray caring fathers who just want the best for their sons and are willing to sacrifice anything so that their children can have better opportunities than they did.

Demián Bichir's powerful performance in A Better Life earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Perez turns in a similarly potent performance in Green Card Warriors and should be honored. However, the only reason I discovered Green Card Warriors is that it was on display at my neighborhood video store, and I'm not sure if it received a wide enough theatrical release to be considered by the Academy.

(Yes, video stores still exist, although coming across one is like spotting Big Foot.)

Green Card Warriors and A Better Life both depict young Latino men being at risk of joining gangs. This is an interesting plot point, since much of the media's focus on the current immigration of Central American youth is that they are fleeing gangs in their home countries.

These two movies seem to indicate that young Latinos are just as in danger of being recruited by gangs in the United States as they are in their home countries because of poverty, discrimination and lack of economic opportunity. 

Neither A Better Life nor Green Card Warriors offer simple solutions to the problems of the American immigration system, but they do shine a light on the fact that there are many hard-working decent people who would contribute greatly to American society if only they were offered a more efficient, legitimate way to gain citizenship. And a way that enabled them to live their lives out in the open and maintain their dignity. 

It would be great if Green Card Warriors could be picked up by a major cable network like HBO or Showtime so that it can reach a broader audience. This indie flick isn't your typical Hollywood movie that ties everything up with a neat bow at the end, but it raises complex issues that all Americans should be aware of.

LCD Soundsystem Documentary Is Tone Deaf

The documentary Shut Up and Play The Hits, which centers around the final concert of techno dance band LCD Soundsystem, is more like a concert film with interview vignettes and behind-the-scenes footage interspersed.

It is clear that the filmmakers and/or James Murphy, the lead singer and founder of LCD Soundsystem, didn't want to do a traditional documentary about the band in the style of VH-1's Behind the Music. In fact, Murphy said he hates talking about himself; he finds it boring.

Watch the trailer for Shut Up and Play the Hits

by clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FAUyrFWDvw

Watching Shut Up and Play the Hits, you can almost hear Murphy and the filmmakers saying they didn't want to do a traditional "talking heads" documentary with a "voice of God" narrator who would weave together the story of the band. The only problem with this approach is that it doesn't engage non-fans who know little know little or nothing about the band and why the group came together in the first place.

Shut Up and Play the Hits also fails to convey why this final concert at Madison Square Garden was such a momentous event for fans and a turning point in the lives of Murphy and the band.

The way the documentary is directed, it's too hip for its own good; it's pretentiously hip. For example, one entire interview sequence has just audio of Murphy talking with an extended shot of him shaving his beard in the mirror.

For someone who supposedly hates talking about himself, Murphy didn't realize that having a shot of his face onscreen for all these interrupted minutes was boring?!

It's understandable why the filmmakers didn't want to have a standard head-and-shoulders interview shot onscreen as Murphy talked, but they could've broken it up with vintage photos of the band or other visuals that somehow enhanced the viewer's understanding of LCD Soundsystem's legacy.

Shut Up and Play the Hits is a lost opportunity to convert more people like myself, who love all different types of music, to LCD Soundsystem. Especially now that the group has disbanded.

All Jokes Journal - Avoiding The Predictable Punchline

Working with Raymond Lambert to co-write the book on his comedy club, All Jokes Aside, is flowing pretty well.

Watch the trailer for Phunny Business, the documentary about

All Jokes Aside, by clicking

this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ6mJoePHd4

 

One of the snags I encountered, however, was in one of the early chapters that tells the story of how bringing in comedian Steve Harvey for a weekend of headlining shows back in March '91 literally saved the club from closing. The challenge I encountered was how to rewrite the opening line of the chapter without relying on clichés.

 The line used the phrase "mortgaged the ranch" to describe how Raymond and his business partner had overextended themselves to keep the club going - bouncing checks to vendors and maxing out their credit cards just to keep the doors open.

Since this chapter gives a lot of background about All Jokes Aside, it took a fair amount of time to put all the details in place. But I managed to get most of the story in the proper order after a lot of rewriting and rearranging of facts and quotes.

But that pesky opening paragraph and that darned cliché "mortgaged the ranch" kept giving me trouble. I couldn't figure out how to reword the opening line without using yet another tired phrase.

So what's wrong with using clichés? Many best-selling authors use clichés all the time, and it certainly hasn't hurt their book sales.

But in this case, I feel as though using a cliché, especially in the opening line of a chapter that is meant to pull the reader into the rest of the story, is like telling a joke with a predictable punchline. It just won't do.

So I finally resorted to Googling "cliché busters" and came upon a blog by Oxford University that offers tips on how to avoid clichés. The prestigious British university defines clichés as "words and phrases that are used so often that they're no longer very interesting or effective."

This blog (which can be accessed by clicking this link: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/avoiding-cliches/) actually provides tools on how to rewrite a cliché-ridden sentence.

First, you examine the cliché for key words and the actual meaning of what you're trying to say. Then you look up a synonym for the key words in a thesaurus, or simply rewrite the sentence in a straightforward way that gets your meaning across in your own words.

Using this method, I ended up changing the worn-out "mortgaged the ranch" to "had a lot at stake." I suppose the latter could also be considered a phrase that's fairly common, but at least it's not as overused as the former. 

Finding Art In Unexpected Places

It's wonderful to find art in the most unexpected places. A little bit of serendipity happened to me yesterday when I visited Franklinton, an historic community just west of downtown Columbus, Ohio.

I was there to take a tour of the Westside Boys & Girls Club, 115 S. Gift St. When I pulled up, I was delighted to be greeted by the sight of an enormous, vibrantly colored mural on the side of the building, which takes up almost an entire block.

The message imprinted on the mural is "Dream Together." The message fits perfectly with the mission of the Boys & Girls Club, which, as I found out during the tour, gives youth ages 6 to 18 a safe place to go after school, on weekends and all day during the summer.

The tour was enlightening, as staff described the work they do in helping young people realize their full potential. The Boys & Girls Club is not just a place to hang out and play ping-pong. The youth are encouraged to spend an hour after school doing their homework or reading, which earns them points to go on cool field trips. And staff track their progress in school with state-of-the-art data-mining tools, helping to ensure they graduate from high school and, hopefully, go on to college.

I remember seeing PSAs about Boys & Girls Clubs when I was a kid, but I honestly didn't know much about them and am not sure I had ever set foot in one before the tour yesterday. They are worthwhile places that deserve as much community support as possible.

For more information about the Westside Boys & Girls Club and other clubs in Columbus, visit www.bgccolumbus.org. For more info about Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide, visit www.bgca.org.

To watch a cool time-lapse video showing how a group called The Harmony Project created the mural at the West Side Boys & Girls Club, click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrxXCyEgqPU.

 

Fink's 'Purple' Nostalgia Trip Is Just What The 'Doctor' Ordered

July marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Prince’s Purple Rain movie and soundtrack. It’s fitting that a group featuring his longest-running band member is touring the country, treating fans to live performances of some of Prince’s greatest hits.

The Purple Experience, led by Prince’s former keyboardist Matt Fink, aka “Dr. Fink,” played the Fraze Pavilion in the Dayton suburb of Kettering on July 24. Fink was a member of The Revolution, Prince’s band that was featured in the Purple Rain movie.

True to his stage name, “Dr. Fink” is famous for wearing surgical scrubs as he pumps out funky riffs behind a bank of keyboards. While Prince has often switched up the lineup of his backup band, Fink was present for nearly the entire run of Prince’s Warner Bros. Records heyday, from 1978 to 1991.

 

 

 

(Read my review of Prince's concert  at the

Essence Festival  on July 4, 2014, at the following link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/09/looking-back-on-one-of-highlights-of.html)

 

During his band’s appearance at the Fraze Pavilion, Fink performed a selection of crowd-pleasing hits that spanned his tenure with Prince. From early material such as “Controversy” and “Uptown,” to “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry,” The Purple Experience kept the crowd dancing and singing along to familiar lyrics. The band even performed ‘90s hits after Fink had left Prince’s band, including “Cream” and “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.”

 

MINNEAPOLIS MEMORIES - Matt Fink and Prince back in the day.
This photo is probably from the Controversy/Dirty Mind era in '80 or '81.

 

Purple Experience lead singer Marshall Charloff bears an uncanny resemblance to Prince and is able to move like him and hit those legendary high notes. However, Charloff’s lower register sounds more like Morris Day.

IS IT LIVE OR IS IT MEMOREX? - Marshall Charloff as Prince.

Since Prince seems intent on never repeating himself, a reunion with The Revolution may never happen. (Read my review of the re-released Purple Rain: The Complete Soundtrack at this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/08/prince-to-release-new-music-purple-rain_27.html)

 

But for now, Dr. Fink’s Purple Experience provides fans with a satisfying nostalgia trip.

 

(This concert review was published in the July 30, 2014, edition of the Call and Post Newspaper.)

 

 

Moreno's Memoir Offers Fascinating Look Into The Life Of A Legend

I recently listened to the memoir in audiobook format of a fascinating woman, the legendary “triple threat” entertainer Rita Moreno.

Rita Moreno: A Memoir concentrates heavily on her early years, when her mother, without explanation, packed her up and insisted they leave the idyllic village in Puerto Rico where they were surrounded by family and migrated to the cold urban landscape of New York. Her mother never fully explained why they abandoned her baby brother, and Moreno is candid about the fact that never getting to know him is one of her biggest regrets.

 

 

Moreno is a natural writer, describing in vivid detail the colors, sights, sounds and tastes of her homeland – even though she left when she was in kindergarten – and the stark, gray, unwelcoming metropolis of New York.

Without much formal training in the areas in which she would later excel – acting, dancing and singing – Moreno started to work steadily as a performer in her late teens in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. She and her mom eventually relocated to Los Angeles so she could break into the movies.

Hollywood eventually dubbed Moreno the “Latino Elizabeth Taylor,” and Moreno describes how she tried hard to emulate Taylor’s trademark hairdo in the ‘50s when she auditioned for famed MGM studio honcho Louis B. Mayer. Mimicking Taylor worked, and Moreno was hired as a contract player – which was quickly becoming a dying breed as the studio system began to dismantle and more actors became independent contractors.

 

Rita Moreno was dubbed the "Latino Elizabeth Taylor"
early in her career.

 

Moreno offers intriguing insights into the old studio system and her adventures on the set of classic films such as Singin’ in the Rain and The King and I.

But if you’re looking for juicy backstage gossip on the filming of West Side Story, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, you’ll be disappointed. She barely mentions the landmark musical except to say that throwing herself into the filming helped her get over her broken heart when she finally broke off her stormy on-again, off-again relationship with Marlon Brando.

 

Moreno was an Oscar for her role as Anita in West Side Story.

 

And, inexplicably, Moreno doesn’t even mention one of her biggest hit movies, The Four Seasons, costarring Alan Alda and Carol Burnett. I loved that movie as a kid, since it was always on cable TV, and was baffled that it was left out of her life story (unless the audiobook is abridged and it’s included in the print version).

Watch the trailer for The Four Seasons by clicking

this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECa1j56U1ns

One thing that really struck me about Moreno’s story is how she describes being typecast early on in her career as a garden-variety “vague ethnic type.” She was often cast as a Native American or Island girl support player in movie musicals and Westerns. It seems to me, this ability to “pass” as racially undefined was both a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, being “exotic” enabled Moreno to work steadily. She landed more roles, even if they were bit parts, than many of her Caucasian peers who didn’t have a look that made them stand out. And Moreno undoubtedly worked more often than African-American actors who couldn’t pass for Native American, Italian or Polynesian.

But Moreno raises a good point that people of color should be able to have pride in their ethnicity and portray who they actually are onscreen. Strangely, it seems like Hollywood has regressed in many ways to the early days of the studio system when most of the major roles in big historical epics were played by white actors, regardless of the characters’ race.

For example, there is currently a controversy over Exodus: Gods and Kings, the forthcoming biblical epic about Moses in which all the Egyptian characters are portrayed by Caucasians such as Sigourney Weaver. Flashback to 1963, when Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra.

Perhaps because of the racism Moreno was exposed to in the entertainment industry, she became a civil rights activist. In her memoir, she describes taking part in the March on Washington and other milestones in the civil rights movement.

CONCLUSION: Rita Moreno: A Memoir is definitely worth picking up. It’s a riveting look into the life of a woman who blazed many trails.  

Reflections Of Summer '14: Memories of Metairie

It's hard to believe that summer officially ends tomorrow. Looking back on the summer of 2014, one of the biggest highlights was a road trip to New Orleans with two very good friends over Fourth of July weekend to attend the Essence Music Festival.

 

Beyond the festival itself (read my review of Prince and Nile Rodgers' concerts at the Superdome on the Fourth of July at this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/09/looking-back-on-one-of-highlights-of.html ), the experience of being in New Orleans had a special significance for me. I've never done genealogical research to confirm if I have any kind of ancestral tie to the Creoles of Color of Louisiana, but I've always felt a strong emotional bond with the region.

(DIGRESSION: There are several ways to pronounce "New Orleans," all of them valid. I tend to say "New or-LEENZ," but for some reason I always feel awkward pronouncing it that way, since the more common pronunciation is "New OR-linz." I've noticed, however, that in many songs that mention New Orleans, such as Ike & Tina's version of "Proud Mary," it's pronounced my way. Probably because it's easier to find words to rhyme with "or-LEENZ" than with "OR-linz.") 

My friends Mary and Renee had the foresight to rent a small house for our weekend stay in the Big Easy, rather than pay the exorbitant rates that hotels charge during Essence Festival weekend - especially in the touristy French Quarter.

 

The house ended up being in an area called Metairie, conveniently located just minutes from downtown and the French Quarter where all the Essence Festival action took place. (I just realized that sentence reads like it could have been written by the Metairie Convention & Visitors Bureau, if such a thing exists.)

The benefit of staying in Metairie was that it's a short drive to Essence Festival hotspots like the Superdome and the Convention Center, but away from all the madness of Bourbon Street and other major thoroughfares. My friends and I could hop in the car and jet over to the Essence festivities, but then come "home" to our cottage nestled in a quiet little neighborhood in Metairie and have peace and relaxation.

 

Staying in Metairie had a special significance, since my great-uncle James, my grandfather's brother who was nicknamed "Jiggs" for reasons I never knew, lived there for decades. Like my grandfather, Daddy Bob (who, much like his nickname, was like a larger-than-life character straight out of a Tennessee Williams play set in New Orleans), Uncle Jiggs grew up in the small southern Ohio town of Ironton, but settled in the New Orleans area after being stationed there while serving in the military.

 

Metairie reminds me of German Village, an upscale subdivision in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, that is populated by small yet stylish bungalows with a lot of character. The main difference is that in Metairie, everything looks as though it's been painted with vibrant pastel colors, in keeping with the festive spirit of the region.

While staying in Metairie, I explored the neighborhood by going on morning runs. I jogged past chic ethnic restaurants I could suggest for me and my travel companions to try. I also discovered a quaint little park where parents pushed their kids on swings and pet owners walked their dogs. (There were also homeless people camped out on park benches, but the Metairie Convention & Visitors Bureau probably wouldn't advertise that.)

Surrounding the park were cute little houses that I fantasized about renting one day when I'm able to take a sabbatical from everyday life and focus on my next writing project. Spending a few weeks or, better yet, a few months living in New Orleans while writing a suspenseful novel set in the area is a dream I hope to fulfill.

I could see myself renting a cozy little bungalow
like this in Metairie one day. 

Speaking of writing projects, one of the most special aspects of the New Orleans trip was getting to take a copy of my debut novel, The Chloe Chronicles, with me. 

The Chloe Chronicles is about a young woman named Chloe Bareaux who is of French Creole heritage. Chloe is raised in Paris by her well-meaning yet overprotective mother, Maxine, who is originally from New Orleans. Chloe eventually meets a writer named Alex Michaud, who is also from New Orleans and accompanies her there to solve a long-standing family mystery. 

Chillin' with "my girl Chloe" on the front porch
of the house in Metairie.

Getting to chill with "my girl Chloe," as I sometimes refer to my character, while lounging on the front porch of the house in Metairie and take her to visit famous sites, such as Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo in the French Quarter, gave me a sense of fulfillment and made me feel like I'd brought Chloe's story full-circle. 

"Chloe" visits a famous French Quarter landmark,
Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo.

Another highlight of the New Orleans trip was when my friends and I walked up and down Bourbon Street and visited an historic jazz club, Maison Bourbon, and sat in on a quartet that played authentic New Orleans jazz.

A great way to spend a Saturday night: taking in live music
at Maison Bourbon, a jazz club in the famed French Quarter.

And of course, no visit to the Big Easy would be complete without sampling the spicy food of the region - sorry, but Popeye's just won't do. 

I got to have real gumbo at Mulate's, which is billed as "the original Cajun restaurant." I also got to try alligator meat for the first time in the form of jambalaya pasta with alligator sausage at the famed Oceana Restaurant in the French Quarter.

Honestly, I couldn't tell any difference between alligator sausage and pork, beef or turkey sausage. If I hadn't been told ahead of time, I never would have known I was eating alligator.

I look forward to returning to the Big Easy in the not-too-distant future (read my recent blog post about whether the region is losing its French/Cajun/Creole roots at this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/09/has-louisiana-lost-its-french-roots-and.html ). 

The Crescent City will always be a place of myth, mystery and music (hey, I'm a writer; I had to work in a clever alliteration) and is inarguably one of the most special places in the world.

Joan Jett Impressed With 'Fair' Performance

When friends of mine suggested going to see Heart and Joan Jett at the Ohio State Fair this past summer, I jumped at the chance. Not only would it give me a chance to hang out with my friends and see the goings-on at the fair, it would give me an opportunity to see one of my favorite groups - Heart - that I'd never seen live before.

But honestly, I wasn't all that enthused about seeing Joan Jett. I knew a few of her songs, but I wouldn't have paid to see her in concert if she hadn't been opening for Heart.

However, this was an occasion when I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I was blown away.

 

She gave a crowd-pleasing show, performing her big solo hits such as "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "I Hate Myself for Loving You" as well as hits from her days in the all-girl punk group The Runaways in the '70s, including "Cherry Bomb." (That anthem of youth rebellion, coincidentally, can be heard playing over a montage in the recent summer blockbuster sci-fi flick, Guardians of the Galaxy.)

Jett also performed selections from her most recent album, 2013's Unvarnished. The numbers she performed sound very radio-friendly, but still have that punk edge, such as "Any Weather," which she shared was inspired by surviving Hurricane Sandy in 2012 like many of her fellow New Yorkers. (Watch the video by clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbab568f_NE)

Joan Jett wowed me with her showmanship and ability to sing, play guitar and hold the crowd in the palm of her hand. She is a true rock star.

And not for nothin', but in her 50s, she is in amazing shape and still looks like she did back when she was a teen rocker with The Runaways.

Speaking of which, I've long been a huge fan of Jett's Runaways bandmate and rival, Lita Ford. Back in the late '90s, I remember walking through a record store (back when they still existed) and discovering The Runaways for the first time.

 

"Joan Jett and Lita Ford were in a band together?!" I exclaimed in my astounding lack of punk rock history, marveling at the reissued album from the '70s like some kind of artifact from an ancient civilization.

While I'll always be a Lita fan, Joan Jett has totally won my respect.

 

 

Oh, and Heart wasn't too shabby, either.

Rosie Perez's 'View' On Life and Having Great Hair

It’s great that Rosie Perez is one of the new panelists on The View. People Magazine raved, "Rosie Perez is the best thing about the new View."

Coincidentally, I recently listened to her memoir in audiobook format: Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother and Still Came Out Smiling (with Great Hair).

Rosie Perez is a member of the new View panel along with Rosie O'Donnell,
Whoopi Goldberg and Republican strategist Nicolle Wallace.

Much of the autobiography concentrates heavily on Perez’s early years. It’s truly amazing that she came out as such a well-adjusted and compassionate human being – not to mention drug-free – considering that she grew up suffering physical and emotional abuse in a Catholic orphanage and group homes.

Perez’s stays in these facilities were punctuated by visits with her psychologically unstable mother, doting father (who never married her mother) and nurturing aunt.

For someone who became such an accomplished choreographer, it’s amazing that Perez never took formal training of any kind, although she grew up loving music and dancing. Discovered while dancing on Soul Train while attending college in L.A. in the ‘80s, she was recruited to choreograph a music video for Bobby Brown and she soon became an in-demand choreographer for hip-hop music videos and concert tours. 

Perez was so inexperienced and so new to the game that she choreographed Brown's "Every Little Step I Take" video in the living room of her small L.A. apartment.  

She caught the attention of comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans, who chose her to choreograph the female dance troupe The Fly Girls for his Fox variety show, In Living Color. The Fly Girls is where none other than Jennifer Lopez got her start, and Perez goes into detail about their seemingly ongoing feud.

While Perez's dance career took off, Spike Lee plucked her from obscurity when he spotted her in a nightclub and got her into acting, which she had apparently never even thought about before he cast her in his groundbreaking 1989 movie Do the Right Thing.

Perez went on to become an Academy Award-nominated actress, for 1993's Fearless, opposite the legendary Jeff Bridges. Selective about the roles she chose, Perez was able to defy cultural stereotypes and succeed despite Hollywood’s narrow-minded view of Latinas and people of color, in general.

Rosie Perez played Spike Lee's girlfriend in Do The Right Thing.

In her memoir, Perez offers few details about her love life, except to briefly mention that she dated rapper Tupac Shakur and was married to playwright and filmmaker Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, whom she divorced in 2001 after 10 years of marriage. (She married artist Eric Haze last September.) 

She does, however, describe how she overcame battles with depression and how she became an AIDS activist. She spoke about the disease in the early days before it was considered hip and politically correct for celebrities to do so.

I’m sure Perez will continue to break barriers as the first Latina to sit on The View panel, and as one of the too few Latinos in mainstream daytime TV.

In Memoir, Rod Stewart Details How He Pretty Much Invented The Modern-Day Rock Star Persona

Rod Stewart is among that generation of Baby Boomers who invented the classic image we have today of a rock star as a globe-trotting, risk-taking, pampered celebrity who indulges in fast cars and even faster living.

Stewart, the quintessential rock star, is refreshingly honest and forthright in his autobiography, which I recently listened to in audiobook format. Even the title is straightforward. Rather than some profound or poetic statement, it's simply titled Rod: The Autobiography.

There are many surprises in Stewart's life story. Among them, that he came to music relatively late. He was in his late teens in the '60s when he started hanging around clubs and stumbled into singing and playing harmonica in bands. Of course, he ended up having more success than many classically trained musicians who dreamt of being professional entertainers since they could walk.

Stewart is frank that he has enjoyed the perks of being a rock star, and at the height of his fame in the '70s and '80s, he lived up to the stereotypical "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" lifestyle. He makes no pretensions about the fact that when he was out on the road, he wasn't exactly faithful to his succession of wives and girlfriends. And when it comes to women, he acknowledges that he has a type: blond models and actresses.

But for a man who so prides himself on macho bravado, he's progressive-minded about his gay and bisexual peers. He remains close friends with Elton John, whom he has hilarious arguments with about who has more money in the bank, and hung out with Freddie Mercury of Queen.

Stewart is extremely candid about his life, from his successes to his mistakes and career missteps. But there are stories he shares that seem incomplete.

For example, he's a big fan of American soul music, but barely says a word about Tina Turner when describing the recording of their remake of Marvin Gaye's Motown classic "It Takes Two." His scant description of Tina is that despite her wild image onstage, she was surprisingly shy about ad-libbing during the recording and wanted to stick to the scripted lyrics.

And there are digressions that slow down the narrative in which Stewart goes on about his love of cars, soccer and the joys and challenges of being the father of seven children by different women.

It's always preferable for an author to read his own work in an audiobook - especially an autobiography. But narrator Simon Vance, with his English accent, does a decent job of relating Stewart's life story.

One very intriguing sequence described how in the early '90s, Stewart was on the verge of losing his voice due to years of screaming to be heard over screeching guitars and pounding drums when performing live. Stewart became addicted to steroids, which temporarily subdued the inflammation of his vocal chords.

A modern technological innovation saved Stewart's voice and, most likely, his career: the in-ear monitor that helps singers and musicians hear themselves when onstage. Since Stewart no longer had to scream, he was able to kick his steroids habit and his voice soon recovered.

Before listening to Rod: The Autobiography, I didn't know much about Rod Stewart other than a handful of his songs. After hearing his life story, I came away respecting his brutal honesty, self-awareness and all that he has accomplished in his 50-plus years in the music industry.  

Life Happens To Us All

I recently saw famed African-American chef and restaurateur B. Smith on CBS Sunday Morning recently and was dismayed to discover that, at 64, she has early onset Alzheimer’s.

As Smith’s devoted husband, business partner and caretaker Dan Gasby noted, she’s in amazing shape and has the blood pressure of an athlete, which is what made her diagnosis with the incurable disease so shocking.

 

I remember hearing a lot about B. Smith in the early '90s, when she began making the rounds on TV talk shows and was touted as "the black Martha Stewart."

Smith's battle with Alzheimer’s shows that hardship doesn’t discriminate. Here is a woman who is wealthy, successful beyond anyone’s wildest dreams and, presumably, has access to the best healthcare. And yet she was diagnosed with a degenerative disease.

By contrast, I recently saw legendary comic writer Carl Reiner on Tavis Smiley’s PBS talk show with his son, Rob. Carl, at 91, is still going strong, cracking jokes and recalling funny anecdotes that happened during Rob’s childhood decades ago.

We should all be so fortunate to live a long, healthy life and be surrounded by family we love and care for.