March 2006
The News Argus
7
Read on
Is Lifetime Television for
Women too tough on
men?
Jamie Foxx, dazzles lis
teners on ‘Unpredictable’
ENIEKTAINMENT
'Their Eyes Were Watching God' a timeless story of love
By Lauren Boyce
ARGUS REPORTER
Written in 1931, "Their
Eyes Were Watching God" is
a novel with a message that
stiU resonates more than 70
years later.
The story line centers
aroimd the life of Janie
Crawford as she searches for
true love and inner peace.
Her struggles, triumphs,
dreams and pain are still a
reality for many women in
today's society. The book's
author, Zora Neale Hurston,
was a literary pioneer for
African-American women.
The book opens with Janie
returning to her hometown
of Eatonville, Florida one
and a half years after she left
on a quest to find real love
and self actualization. Her
best friend Phoeby is ecstatic
to see her safe return and
invites herself over to Janie's
place to catch up on lost
time. Phoeby's curiosity
entices Janie to reveal her
life's journey, beginning
with her recollection of her
childhood experiences that
would change her life.
Readers leam that at age
15 Janie married Logan
Killicks, a man twice her
age, upon the request of her
grandmother. Janie an opti
mist is determined to find
love within her marriage
regardless of how hard it
was. As the story continues
on, Janie's marriage has
ended. Later, she meets a
stylish city slicker, who res
urrects her dream of finding
love.
One week after meeting
Joe Sparks, Janie elopes with
him to go with him to fulfill
his dream of becoming a
Mayor in a small town that
would be know as
Eatonville, Florida. But once
again, the marriage doesn't
work out. After 23 years of
marriage to Sparks, Janie
came to the same conclusion
as before — marriage and
Mary J. Blige touches on variety of subjects on latest CD,
shows fans and critics how much she has grown vocaily
By Lauren Boyce
ARGUS REPORTER
Mary J. Blige began her reign as the
hip hop/R&B queen of soul in the
early 1990s with her platinum selling
album, "What's the 411." Fifteen
years later, Mary J. has seven plat
inum albums, securing her place in
R&B history as one of the top-selling
female artist.
Mary J. Blige latest album "The
Breakthrough" debuted as No. 1 on
the charts in December 2005. The first
single "Be Without You" became an
instant hit and helped spread the buzz
about the album. Throughout the 16-
track albimi, the listener will enjoy a
variety of songs and topics. Mary J.
touches on sensitive yet important
themes, such as a fatherless daughter
in the song titled, "Father in You." A
collaboration with Jay-z on "Can't
Hide From Luv" helps Blige secure an
official club banger. From track one to
the very last song on the album, Blige
invites us to share her personal
thoughts and experiences and touches
on issues that we all can relate to.
Mary J. Blige shows her fans and
even her critics how much she has
grovm vocally, spiritually cind emo
tionally. I believe that this album is
her greatest album thus far. I recom
mend this album to those who enjoy
soulful, positive and meaningful
music.
Hong Kong King Buffet falls short on service
By Dreama Williams
ARGUS REPORTER
Hong Kong King Buffet is one of
the latest in a plethora of Chinese
eateries in the Triad.
Located on Silas Creek Parkway, it
is open Simday through Thursday 11
a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and
Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Prices are
reasonable: The weekday limch buffet
is $6.99 for adults, $4.99 for children
ages 6-10 and $2.99 for children ages
3-5. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to
3:45 p.m.
The dinner buffet costs two dollars
more for everyone, and if you order
crab legs, an extra $4.67 is added to
the buffet price. Sunday and holiday
prices are a little different. Weekday
dinners are $7.99 for adults and $9.99
on weekends.
The restaurant boasts that it serves
180 selections, everything from dim
stim and sushi to crab and frog legs.
My favorite is the sweet and sour
chicken. There's also a variety of
soups, rices, noodles and fresh fruit.
Despite the reasonable price and
large selection, Hong Kong King
Buffet disappoints. The wait staff is so
busy that you'd better order your
drink when asked the first time
because you might not see one
again.
Although there was plenty of food,
it appeared to fall way short of the
advertised 180 offerings, and the staff
was slow to refill trays when the food
got low.
The restaurant is less than 1-year-
old and perhaps it still has some
kinks to work out. But Hong Kong
King Buffet will do well to remember
this saying: You only get one chance
to make a good first impression.
love are two different things.
Sparks dies and Janie is
"free."
Not long after the death of
her husband, Janie meets a
young man named Tea
Cakes. Tea Cakes is an
adventurous and fun man
who sweeps Janie off her
feet. Janie and Tea Cakes
leave Eatonville to start a
new life together. During
their time together, Janie is
finally able to see and feel
what true love is.
Janie has finally realized
her dreams in Tea Cakes,
but he dies of rabies after
saving Janie's life. With Tea
Cakes gone, Janie now finds
herself alone once again
with only memories of love
and inner peace.
I truly recommend this
book as well as any other lit
erature penned by Hurston,
a master storyteller whose
universal themes of love,
freedom and independence
transcend time.
Lifetime needs to leave
the male-bashing behind
and focus on other issues
By Steven J. Gaither
ARGUS REPORTER
Happily married Nicole
discovers that Evan, the
dream man she married, is
actually a globetrotting
bigamist involved in a plat
inum embezzling scheme. A
cheating husband murders
his wife and dumps her
body into a river. No, these
aren't grizzly police files,
just a Sunday afternoon
with Lifetime Television
Network.
The stories listed above
are just a sample of the neg
ative images of men that
seem to be prevalent on this
cable television network,
which bills itself as
"Televison for Women." The
network serves more than
88 million households
nationwide and apparently
is wildly popular among
women of all ages and
backgrounds. But does this
success come at the expense
of men?
I recently sat down with
my mother to watch some
of the programs on the sta
tion. There are innocuous
shows such as Designing
Women and Golden Girls.
However, other programs
and movies on the network
depict men as moronic or
evil. I began to think to
myself, "Is this what
women really think about
men? Do they all think
we're cheaters and rapists
who will do whatever we
can to get away with some
thing?"
In my opinion. Lifetime
should spend more time
coming up with programs
that focus on real issues,
such as the continuing
struggle for women's equal
rights and equal pay. Male
bashing is easy and mind
less. Serious programming
requires not only creativity
but balance, and it seems to
me that balance is sadly
lacking on this network.
Jamie Foxx dazzles young and old
fans on latest CD, ‘Unpredictable’
By Patricia Commander
ARGUS REPORTER
"Unpredictable" is just
that, unpredictable. Jamie
Foxx, a Renaissance man in
the truest sense of the
word, dazzles listeners on
this CD. The album dedi
cates a song to his grand
mother called "Wish U
Were Here" and also one to
his daughter titled
"Heaven." For listeners
who want to cuddle up
with his or her lover, there
are plenty slow jams to
help set a romantic tone.
He even gains women fans
with "U Still Got It" — a
ballad that reaffirms the
worth of new mothers
struggling with new
weight. This CD is versatile
and will appeal to anyone
who enjoys good music.
Foxx — comedian, actor,
pianist, singer and song
writer — shows off his
multiple gifts in
"Unpredictable."
More African-American actors being recognized for their work
By Erin Perkins
ARGUS REPORTER
The 78th annual Academy Awards
will broadcast to audiences around the
globe on March 5, and African-
American actor Terrence Howard, has
been nominated for an Oscar for his role
in the movie "Hustle and Flow."
If he wins the award for Best Actor in
a Leading Role, he vwll join a small
cadre of African-American winners.
In 1939, Hattie McDaniel was the first
African American to win an academy
award for her performance as
"Mammy" in "Gone With the Wind."
It took the Academy another 24 years
before it awarded an Oscar to another
African-American. That time it went to
Sydney Poitier, who won a Best Actor
Oscar for his performance in Lilies of
the Field (1963).
Another 19 years passed before the
Academy awarded a third one to an
African American.
During the 1980s and 1990s, several
black actors and one black actress won
Oscars for supporting roles. However,
no one won for a leading role imtil 2002
when HaUe Berry became the first
African American to win Best Actress
for her role in Monster Ball. In a tearful
acceptance speech. Berry told the audi
ence: "If s for every nameless, faceless,
woman of color who now has a chance
because this door tonight has been
opened."
Denzel Washington also took home an
Oscar for his role as the corrupt cop in
Training Day after two previous nomi
nations for leading roles. Sydney Poitier
has also won a Honorary Lifetime
Oscar.
In its 78-year history, the Academy
has honored only 18 African Americans
with Oscars. One of the 18 was Jamie
Foxx won a Best Actor Oscar for "Ray"
in 2004, and Morgan Freeman won an
Oscar for his supporting role in "Million
DoUar Baby"
Good luck to Howard. The ground
work, however hard, has been laid.
‘Content Under Pressure’ several cuts above most urban-themed games
By Billy O’Keefe
KRT WIRE SERVICE
Reviews of recent video games
MARC ECKO'S GETTING UP: CON
TENTS UNDER PRESSURE
For: Xbox and PS2 (limited editions avail
able for both)
From: The Collective/Ecko Unltd./Atari/
Last year's spree of stereotypically embar
rassing and plain ol' broken urban-themed
games set a shaky stage for "Marc Ecko's
Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure,"
which faces an urvfairly steep uphill battle
for respectability in the face of gamer preju
dices. So here's what you need to know
about "Getting Up:" It's not only not a cheap
cash-in on or an ^ont to the subject matter
that inspired it, but it's actually several cuts
above most games, period, in terms of story
telling, character development and overall
presentation.
Most importantly, it plays great. As fledg
ling graffiti artist TRAl^, you need to estab
lish and defend yourself at the same time in
a neighborhood teeming with rival taggers
and indiscriminate authorities, so you need
to be quick with the paint and quick on your
feet. "Getting Up" tackles the platformer and
brawler genres with refreshing and full-fea
tured competence — no small feat when you
consider how many developers struggle
with getting even one of those right. TRANE
is a breeze to control, and the platforming
challenges don't feel contrived. The fighting
controls seem bit clumsy at first, but some
practice and a few moves learned takes care
of this. Even with some camera problems,
you always feel in control.
The tagging portions of "Getting Up"
aren't quite as exciting, especially since you
can't design or upload your own designs,
but they're carried off similarly well and are
unique in that they require you to put up
your piece not only quickly, but also neatly.
Tagging feels tedious at first, but it grows on
you — much like the rest of the game,
which, again surprisingly, gets better as it
goes on.
DRILL DOZER
For: Game Boy Advance
From: Game Freak/Nintendo
Sometimes you want to shake game pub
lishers and ask them why they put out
something as unique, smart and fun as
"Drill Dozer" and act almost as if they're
embarrassed to do so. You may not have
heard it from the horse's mouth — or any
where else — but "Dozer" really does exist.
Not only that, but it comes courtesy of
"Pokemon" cultivators Game Freak and is
one of the best original platformers in years
to fly Nintendo's flag.
Basically, "Dozer" is what a 2D "Super
Mario Bros." game would be if Mario got
around inside a giant drill bit contraption
instead of on foot. And Game Freak leaves
no stone unturned when it comes to employ
ing said drill: When you're not busy protect
ing yourself and attacking bad guys with it,
you're burrowing through walls or using it
in any number of ways to get around the
game's levels. Sounds pretty one-dimension
al and bland on paper, but "Dozer" litters
the playground with a host of widgets, doo
dads and whatchamacallits that allow you to
use the drill in all manner of fashion.
"Dozer's" story sets the stage for levels
that have alternate paths, a la "Metroid," that
you can traverse only after certain conditions
are met. That doesn't turn the game into an
epic beast — it's still a 2D sidescroller, after
all — but it helps "Dozer" further belie what
ever assumptions one might have simply by
seeing the box on the shelf.
TRUE SWING GOLF
For: Nintendo DS
From: T&E Soft/Nintendo
Of all the sports that should appear on
the stylus-centric Nintendo DS, none is
more perfect than golf. EA Sports tried
and failed with the ridiculously cumber
some "Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 2005,"
so now it's on the shoulders of T&E Soft,
which has been designing golf games
almost exclusively since the Super
Nintendo days.
As its somewhat dull name suggests,
"True Swing Golf's" primary mission
is to make a good, solid stylus-based golf
game. To that end, it succeeds, and it does
so by not overthinking the problem the
way EA did. Swinging your club in "TSG"
is as simple as pulling back on the stylus
and flicking it forward toward the ball.
As in life, if you do this quickly and pre
cisely, you get the distance and accuracy
you so desire. Weak, wobbly or off-center
"swings" will, again as in life, provide less
desirable results. It's pretty straightforward
stuff — and bravo for that. "TSG" is pretty
dead-on in terms of reading your shot and
rewarding or punishing you as needed. If
you bork your shot, you'll know it before
the ball even hits the air. It's about as close
to real golf as a handheld stylus game can
get.