Death Sentence...

Death Sentence
by The Literary Masturbator™

What if never write another poem?

Would my words constipate in the bowels of expression?

A writer writes...

But am I a writer...a poet if I no longer put pen to paper? If I never use a word program on my laptop?

There are times when I feel like if you were to cut me, poetry would ooze from my veins like blood draining into a coagulated puddle of nouns and verbs

Adjectives would no longer be cells in my body bringing much needed oxygen to my brain

I'd be insane

Screaming similes, like obscenities in a straight jacket—locked in an asylum-curled up in the fetal position

Call 911!! Call 911!!

“911-What's your emergency?”

I CAN'T FEEL MY METAPHORS!!

EMT's would have to try and resuscitate me ...pressing those paddles to my chest

When you define yourself by an art form like poetry, when it's who you are

What would happen if that were taken away?

I'd feel confined like one of the Africans on a ship during the middle passage
My drums, history, and everything I knew...ripped from me, shackled-loaded on in the belly of a boat, surrounded by people I couldn't communicate with because we didn't speak the same language-because we're not from the same tribe...sort of like someone who can't pay their mortgage, talking to an investment banker...

I'd be like a slave...singing schoolhouse rock songs as if they were negro spirituals...coded messages to help me plan escape or rise up in revolt...

I'd paraphrase Patrick Henry--”Give Me Poetry Or Give Me Death!!”


You see poetry is love and life...

Compassion and hope...
Poetry is what I use to cope
I couldn't survive without it...nope

I couldn't be...me

It must be what it feels like to be sentenced to death...

www.myspace.com/theliterarymasturbator
theliterarymasturbator@gmail.com
http://theliterarymasturbator.blogspot.com
Copyright©2010 Jair

And... Ancestors Have Welcomed A New Angel...

A few years ago I walked into a place that would totally change my life. It was/is called "PoetsJazzHouse". When I went that first night I didn't expect to meet people who would become my friends and inspiration.

Even though she wasn't there on that night Nikki Dillard but she was at the time with Derek Shaun the co-host of the show.

We all became family. If we were to assign roles "Nikki 1" as she was called would have been the sassy sister. She could do poetry, sing, act, and many other things. She had the habit of finding a popular song and changing the lyrics to introduce the regulars. She came up with a Jill Scot joint for me without knowing that at the time Jill Scott was my favorite artist. She just had an innate sense of what worked. She even composed a song to warn guests about noise from cell phones. It was to the tune of Kate Vigo's, "The Way I Are/The Doo Doo Song"

I am standing on the stage
And I need your full attention
No more talking paper rattling
Other things I need to mention
And if your cell phone happens to ring, don't say hello!
There's some refreshments in the back, and leave some money at the do!

Nikki also set the tone for, "After 10" poetry. We used to have students who were younger than 18 come from JobCorps and because we didn't want to influence them any erotic poetry was done after 10pm--after intermission when the students had left for the evening. One of her classics was about eating a "Frosty" ice cream. It was Hot! It was because of Nikki I was liberated to write my signature piece, "Literary Masturbator"

Nikki was a warm and loving woman who I will never forget. Her legacy will definitely live on...

Los Angeles & San Francisco Events For National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day...

REGISTRATION FOR THE LOS ANGELES EVENT ENDS TODAY!!!

Los Angeles

Please join us the morning of Saturday February 6th for an innovative look at issues facing the Black community living with HIV/AIDS.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Symposium at Charles Drew University in South L.A.: "Addressing Evolving Needs of the Black Community"
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Pharmacists, Dentists, Social Workers, Case Managers, Treatment Advocates, Mental Health Professionals, Substance Abuse Professionals and Public Health Professionals

There is no fee for this program.

Register online at: http://nmaetc.virtualforum.com/pif.asp?action=enterpif&Prog_ID=10020601



Saturday, February 6, 2010
8:00am – 1:15pm
(Continental Breakfast & Registration start at 7:30am)

Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
1731 East 120th Street, Montague Cobb Lounge
Los Angeles, CA 90059

Continuing Education Credits offered:

CME Accreditation - PENDING
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians.
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science designates this educational activity for a maximum of 4.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only those credits that he/she actually spent in the activity.

Physician Assistant Continuing Medical Education Credit
This course is approved for Category 1 of 4.50 hours of continuing medical education.

Continuing Nursing Education Credit
This course is approved for 4.50 Contact Hours by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CEP 15355

Continuing LCSW and MFT Education Credit
This course is approved for 4.50 Continuing Education Units by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Provider #PCE 372

Presented by National Minority AIDS Education Training Center & Pacific AIDS Education Training Center

For more information, please contact: Clarenda Stephens at (323) 563-5932 or contact Elissa Bradley by replying to this email.

San Francisco

Join us as we pay tribute to National BLACK HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. We will meet at the steps of City Hall (@ Polk Street) at 5:00 pm, and MARCH to the CASTRO.

A wonderful program will commence at the Harvey Milk Academy at 6:30 pm. Lastly, we will put on our dancing shoes at 10pm at BLACKOUT!!

Academy Awards 2010: And The Nominees Are...

I am so happy for the film, "Precious: Based on the novel, 'Push' by Sapphire" Along with, "Mississippi Damned" & "This Is It" It was one of my favorite films of last year...







Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film“Coraline” Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
“Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography“Avatar” Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design“Bright Star” Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing“Avatar” James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)“Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film“Ajami” Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
“Un Prophète” France
“The White Ribbon” Germany

Makeup“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
“Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture
“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)“French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)
“The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects
“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)“District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson,
Tom McCarthy

Downtown Shannon Brown!!

Shannon had an all-around great game last night but of course the highlights are his dunks. The 1st is an old skool alley-oop from Lamar Odom. Just a great heads up play. The second is an outlet pass from Derek Fisher that has him SKYING!! The final dunk is just STRAIGHT UP NASTY!! It's a put back of a free-throw miss by Andrew Bynum. Check out Shannon's walk after the dunk...SWAGGA!!

Lakers Make Visit to White House

Lakers Make Visit to White House
By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer
Updated: 01/25/2010 11:48:12 PM PST


President Barack Obama smiles as he poses with members of the Lakers on Monday in the East Room of the White House. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)


WASHINGTON - The Lakers took a field trip Monday afternoon. They met President Barack Obama and visited the White House as his guests in the East Room, smiling and laughing like giddy school children instead of NBA champions.

Obama hosted the Lakers players, coaches, staff and executives and assorted friends and family. He gave them a few chuckles and they gave him a gold-and-purple Lakers jersey with his name on the back and a signed basketball.

Jeanie Buss and Magic Johnson represented the Lakers' ownership. General manager Mitch Kupchak joined them and the Lakers players and coaching staff. They all stood on risers behind the president, who spoke from behind a podium.

Gold drapes adorned the ballroom, which made it feel all the more comfortable for the Lakers. Obama seemed at ease while praising Kobe Bryant and Lakers coach Phil Jackson and bantering with Johnson.

The president also took a moment to thank Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol for their efforts in raising money for earthquake victims in Haiti. He shook hands with everyone on the stage and also greeted Bryant's daughters, Natalia and Gianna.

"I'm especially excited to meet Coach Phil Jackson, the Zen Master," Obama said during a 15-minute ceremony. "I've been a fan of Coach Jackson's ever since his days running the triangle offense in Chicago (Obama's adopted hometown).

"I want to congratulate him on his 10th NBA championship - the most in history. I do want to point out that six of them came with the Bulls." Obama then pantomimed Michael Jordan's classic layup in which he switched the ball from one hand to the other while in midair during the 1991 NBA Finals, when Jordan and the Bulls defeated Johnson and the Lakers.

"You remember that, Magic?" Obama said. Johnson laughed and said, "Yes, sir."

Later, downstairs in the Diplomatic Reception Room, a laughing Johnson told Lakers beat reporters he wanted to make a snappy retort, but thought better of trading trash-talk with "the most powerful man in the world."

"I got a kick out of that," Johnson said. "You know, what can you say when the President of the United States can trash- talk you? Normally, I have a pretty good comeback, but this time I had to let him slide.

"I had to let him slide, because he was right, Michael did do an incredible move."

Johnson said he was every bit as excited Monday as during his first visit to the White House while playing with the Lakers during the Showtime Era of the 1980s.

Many of the same feelings flooded over him as he waited to meet Obama.

"I was sweating just like I was sweating back then," Johnson said. "You were sweating to meet him. Sweating to shake his hand. Sweating because this is a great moment. I knew how special this moment was for all these guys. "It's a great day for them as young men. It's a great day for the organization. We'll see if we can get back here again. I don't think we'll ever have a president with as much basketball knowledge, with as much basketball skills and yet still run the world."

Obama praised Bryant, quoted Lamar Odom and wished Chicago native Shannon Brown well in the dunk contest during the NBA's All-Star Weekend next month.

Obama also lamented the fact that he was no longer an effective player now that he's nearly 49.

Before the ceremony began, Bryant said Obama spoke with the players "about sports, about Shannon winning the dunk contest. We talked about the Bulls. We talked about the Lakers. We talked about my (broken) finger. We talked about doing it again. He kind of came up to everybody individually and shook hands."

During the ceremony, Obama quoted Odom from the NBA Finals last June, recalling the versatile sixth man's words of unity while the Lakers chased the championship that eluded them when they lost to the Boston Celtics in 2008.

"We all kind of always saw that light," Obama recalled Odom saying after the Lakers dispatched the Orlando Magic in five games last June.

Obama also praised Bryant for playing at such a high level despite suffering a fractured right index finger last month.

"Of course, I have to recognize Kobe Bryant, one of the most competitive players I have ever seen," Obama said. "If I had a broken finger, I would have trouble getting out of bed in the morning."

Asked if his teammates appreciated the significance of the visit, Bryant nodded.

"Lamar is very emotional," Bryant said. "He actually went to see Obama speak at the Democratic Convention in Denver (in 2008). He was very emotional about that, so I know everybody understands the significance of it. It's great to see him."

President Barack Obama with Lakers guard Derek Fisher, left, and guard Kobe Bryant, center, on Monday. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

A Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Month Event...