Hola, Mad Men! Where Are the Latinos in Your Manhattan?
It took till Season Six, Episode Eight for Mad Men to finally acknowledge the existence of Latinos in New York City... only we were criminals: After Peggy's ex-boyfriend Abe was jumped on the Upper...
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Lessons from My Mother -- As a Mixtape
My mother taught me how to dance, to my great embarrassment, at various weddings throughout my childhood. We did the jitterbug, the waltz, the mashed potato, the chicken dance and the polka. Yep, the...
View ArticleHow I Really Feel About High School
We come in to high school with hopes that it will be the best four years of our lives. However, after a short year or so we realize this is false. From waking up at 6 a.m. for four straight years to...
View ArticleR.E.M. Are Starstruck... By Me!
Back in the late 1980s, me and Susan, my girlfriend, yes, the one I married 25 years ago, got very lucky. A friend of hers, really more of a business acquaintance, called her out of the blue one day......
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Success Triumphs All: Dr. Dre, Diddy and Jay-Z
Success is the best maestro to perception. I can't say it much simpler other than affluence and influence are two attributes that can undoubtedly change public opinion. How is it that the man once...
View Article"Scrooge, Don Draper, and Patrick Bateman Walk Into a Bar... "
This seemingly strange, unrelated trio do indeed share an evolutionary line: Ebenezer Scrooge, Don Draper (Mad Men), and Patrick Bateman (American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis). Dickens' portrayal in...
View ArticleExclusive Song Premiere: "Still Have You" by Fever Charm
It's been a couple of years since I met this teenage band riding on the cusp of adulthood in the San Francisco Bay area. Making the transition from the carefree days of high school, when beaches,...
View ArticleComing Full Circle
If you were to ask any songwriter what their favorite song is, most of us would answer, "The one I wrote today." We can't help it. It's our newest baby, our shiny toy, and the one whose luster hasn't...
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A Surprising Scoop About Ricky Martin's Coming Out! (AUDIO)
Desmond Child and Ricky Martin During a recent live interview on my podcast, SnowbizNow, legendary songwriter Desmond Child, who wrote "Livin' la Vida Loca," offers a scoop about what may have...
View ArticleSVU Takes on Woody Allen, Child Sex Abuse and the Nature of Doubt
In this powerful episode, SVU captured in one hour much of the pain, controversy and ambiguity of the decades-long Woody Allen / Dylan Farrow child-sex abuse case. The show explored how hard these...
View Article'Moms Night Out' Feels Like a Dated TV Sitcom
"Moms Night Out" is the kind of movie you feel you ought to like because it is so family friendly, and families have been crying out for ages for more "clean" movies. This one is definitely clean....
View ArticleArianna Discusses 'Thrive' On 'Real Time With Bill Maher' Overtime Segment...
Arianna appeared Friday night on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher", and during the online Overtime segment she discussed her new book "Thrive: The Third Metric To Redefining Success And Creating A Life...
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The New Kids On the Block: AARMAXX
The music industry has long been categorized alongside the progressive, the inventive. It brought us the Beatles, Barbra Streisand, and Beyoncé. It inspired dance clubs, vinyl records, and iPods. At...
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Maurice Hines in LA
Photo by Teresa Wood Maurice Hines is rocking the house at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. After more than sixty years in show business, Hines still has the...
View ArticleBig Boi Announces New Record Deal
While Big Boi is spending the bulk of his spring and summer months performing Outkast reunion dates, he's also still got his own thing going on. There's a new record contract to prove it. "I just...
View ArticleA Tribute to My Mother, Who Taught Me to Succeed Against the Odds
I often reflect on my very fortunate journey. I was born and raised in Benin in a poor family in one of the poorest nations on Earth. Against all odds, I was able to achieve my dream. As a little girl...
View ArticleWhat Celebrities Should Know Before Performing for Dictators
The story repeats itself every few months. A dictator hires a pop icon to perform at a party or private event. Once exposed, the celebrity faces the ire of human rights activists. The celebrity either...
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Cannes Film Festival 2014: A Preview
It's not the winning that counts but the spotting of a major movie star! This year's edition of the Cannes Film Festival will begin on 14 May 2014. If you are planning a visit to the French Riviera for...
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A Quick Chat with Steve Miller and Journey's Neal Schon & Jonathan Cain, Plus...
A Conversation with Steve Miller and Journey's Neal Schon & Jonathan Cain Mike Ragogna: Journey and the Steve Miller Band recorded a few of the most popular albums ever made, especially Escape and...
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10 Things You Didn't Know About Louis C.K.
Earlier this week, we celebrated the return of a comedy giant to network television, as Louie returned to FX for a fourth season. We've all heard how Louis C.K.'s toiled in obscurity for years, only...
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