a co-worker and i went out for after work drinks. or, after work at work drinks complete with an impressive spread of cheese, fruit, bread, olives and champagne. we then went upper east side bar hopping, thinking that drink after drink we'd eventually bring ourselves to a more glamorous part of town. not that i'm about glamour (because i'm not), but, i'm saying it sort of feciciously.
ANYWAYS. sports bar, sports bar, sports bar. there's really not much to do on the upper east side, other than loathe humanity and drink free drinks and eat free food at a sotheby's auction preview party.
so, the bread and cheese not really providing any foundation for this, and still challenging myself with the four inch heels i thought were a good idea, post 3 rum and cokes the previous evening (note: do not buy shoes while tipsy), i was successfully stumbling around like a drunken fool, and it was only 8pm.
but this isn't really when all of the interesting stuff happened. i grabbed a cab to go back home, to my beloved greenpoint (halleluiah), and steadfastly passed out. i woke up, thinking immediately that it was 1am, and i was correct.
verdict: STARVING. i walked to the local pizza counter. unfortunately it was closed. then i saw the b61 bus careen past me. of course. because it's 1:30 am now, and obviously this is prime commute time, versus 9:30 on a monday morning.
my point is that the out of doors greenpoint at 1am without intoxication, or at least a tiny twinge of intoxication but not skewing my perception is quite entertaining. first of all, it's creeptastic. if you want someone to stare into your soul with a piercing black gaze as though they want to completely bypass divine grace and commit a mortal sin in your honor, now is the time.
also, i witnessed something akin to 8 mile. to refresh you memory:
it was just like that, only no white people were invited. 40's were.So, then three guys asked me where they could buy booze. after thirty serious seconds of answering their question politely, i realized that one of them looked like this:
i got the feeling however that this was not a kiss tribute, or consequence a kiss theme party, but rather that they had just been burning bibles and sacrificing neighborhood strays (children included) around the corner and now needed a six pack. but hey, who am i to judge?
my goal of attaning the perfect slice of pizza was not realized. i did get a ginger ale and a bag of cool ranch doritos. are cool ranch doritos simultaneously the most digusting and gratifying thing ever invented? that and anything colored blue that is for consumption.
i also got a can of mac and cheese. yes, a can. why are canned noodles like eating wax, and why are they a concerning shade of marigold? because they're canned.
just when you thought i couldn't get classier this evening, i turned on the television. utter disappointment. here's a listing of quality viewing that i found:
1. some unidentifiable crappy law show that has that almost film noir-esque lighting but not as stark a contrast.
2. an infomercial on a portable clothing steamer.
3. another unidentifiable crappy law show.
4. a Z-list movie
Then, enter the amazement zone. I forgot about soul train. Yes, soul train. I was so excited that i took a bunch of videos using my camera to record this. (spare me the commentary of apparent boredom that would illicit this response, besides, i AM meanwhile eating marigold hued wax consistency noodles, you should be over this by now).
This man officiates soul train, and i'm now sort of in love with him. he's really calm and cool, but says the most amazing things like, "alright, now we're gonna warm it up and bring it on in" sort of bordering on sexual innuendo to blantantly sextastic, but in the same cool as a cucumber, i could seduce you if i were locked in another room type way. That guy for president.you can read about soul train here: (if you don't, you're a racist)
Soul Train, the first black-oriented music variety show ever offered on American television, is one of the most successful weekly programs marketed in first run syndication and one of the longest running syndicated programs in American television history. The program first aired in syndication on 2 October 1971 and was an immediate success in a limited market of seven cities: Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Initially, syndicators had difficulty achieving their 25 city goal. However, Soul Train's reputation as a "well produced" and "very entertaining" program gradually captured station directors' attention. By May of 1972, the show was aired in 25 markets, many of them major cities.
The show's emergence and long standing popularity marks a crucial moment in the history of African-American television production. Don Cornelius, the show's creator, began his career in radio broadcasting in Chicago in November of 1966. At a time when African Americans were systematically denied media careers, Cornelius' left his $250-a-week job selling insurance for Golden State Mutual Life to work in the news department at WVON radio for $50.00 a week. It was a bold move, and clearly marked his committed optimism. By seizing a small opportunity to work in radio broadcasting, Cornelius was able to study broadcasting first hand. His career advancement in radio included employment as a substitute disc jockey and host of talk shows. Radio broadcasting techniques informed Cornelius' vision of the television program Soul Train.
By February 1968, Cornelius was a sports anchorman on the Black oriented news program, "A Black's View of the News" on WCIU-TV, Channel 26, a Chicago UHF TV station specializing in ethnic programming. Cornelius pitched his idea for a black-oriented dance show to the management of WCIU-TV the following year. The station agreed to Cornelius' offer to produce the pilot at his own expense in exchange for studio space. The name Soul Train was taken from a local promotion Cornelius produced in 1969. To create publicity he hired several Chicago entertainers to perform live shows at up to four high schools on the same day. The caravan performances from school to school reminded the producer of a train.
Cornelius screened his pilot to several sponsors. Initially, no advertising representatives were impressed by his idea for black-oriented television. The first support came from Sears, Roebuck & Company, which used Soul Train to advertise phonographs. This small agreement provided only a fraction of the actual cost of producing and airing the program. Yet, with this commitment, Cornelius persuaded WCIU-TV to allow the one-hour program to air five afternoons weekly on a trial basis. The program premiered on WCIU-TV on 17 August 1970 and within a few days youth and young adult populations of Chicago were talking about this new local television breakthrough. The show also had the support of a plethora of Chicago-based entertainers. As an independent producer of the program, Cornelius acted as host, producer and salesman five days a week. He worked without a salary until the local advertising community began to recognize the program as a legitimate advertising vehicle, and Soul Train began to pay for itself.
The Soul Train format includes guest musical performers, hosts, and performances by The Soul Train dancers. Set in a dance club environment, the show's hosts are black entertainers from music, television and the film industries. The dancers are young women and men, fashionably dressed, who dance to the most popular songs on the Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Rap charts. The show includes a game called "The Soul Train Scramble" in which the dancers compete for prizes. The program's focus on individual performers, in contrast to the ensemble dancing more common in televisual presentation, has been passed down to many music variety shows such as American Bandstand, Club MTV, and Solid Gold.
The show's emergence and long standing popularity marks a crucial moment in the history of African-American television production. Don Cornelius, the show's creator, began his career in radio broadcasting in Chicago in November of 1966. At a time when African Americans were systematically denied media careers, Cornelius' left his $250-a-week job selling insurance for Golden State Mutual Life to work in the news department at WVON radio for $50.00 a week. It was a bold move, and clearly marked his committed optimism. By seizing a small opportunity to work in radio broadcasting, Cornelius was able to study broadcasting first hand. His career advancement in radio included employment as a substitute disc jockey and host of talk shows. Radio broadcasting techniques informed Cornelius' vision of the television program Soul Train.
By February 1968, Cornelius was a sports anchorman on the Black oriented news program, "A Black's View of the News" on WCIU-TV, Channel 26, a Chicago UHF TV station specializing in ethnic programming. Cornelius pitched his idea for a black-oriented dance show to the management of WCIU-TV the following year. The station agreed to Cornelius' offer to produce the pilot at his own expense in exchange for studio space. The name Soul Train was taken from a local promotion Cornelius produced in 1969. To create publicity he hired several Chicago entertainers to perform live shows at up to four high schools on the same day. The caravan performances from school to school reminded the producer of a train.
Cornelius screened his pilot to several sponsors. Initially, no advertising representatives were impressed by his idea for black-oriented television. The first support came from Sears, Roebuck & Company, which used Soul Train to advertise phonographs. This small agreement provided only a fraction of the actual cost of producing and airing the program. Yet, with this commitment, Cornelius persuaded WCIU-TV to allow the one-hour program to air five afternoons weekly on a trial basis. The program premiered on WCIU-TV on 17 August 1970 and within a few days youth and young adult populations of Chicago were talking about this new local television breakthrough. The show also had the support of a plethora of Chicago-based entertainers. As an independent producer of the program, Cornelius acted as host, producer and salesman five days a week. He worked without a salary until the local advertising community began to recognize the program as a legitimate advertising vehicle, and Soul Train began to pay for itself.
The Soul Train format includes guest musical performers, hosts, and performances by The Soul Train dancers. Set in a dance club environment, the show's hosts are black entertainers from music, television and the film industries. The dancers are young women and men, fashionably dressed, who dance to the most popular songs on the Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Rap charts. The show includes a game called "The Soul Train Scramble" in which the dancers compete for prizes. The program's focus on individual performers, in contrast to the ensemble dancing more common in televisual presentation, has been passed down to many music variety shows such as American Bandstand, Club MTV, and Solid Gold.
Dear soul train, i'm going to set my alarm for you.
Anyways, that's really all that i've got tonight. robert pierre, cool ranch, marigold noodles, and soul train.
