Serena 'It's a recession dammit!'

Tennis great Serena Williams has been blogging about her career aspirations.  The legendary tennis player wrote on her Global Grind page that she has begun training to become a certified nail technician:

...I had a brilliant idea to get certified to be a nail tech. Besides the fact that I am coming out with a nail collection from a company called HairTech, I thought “Serena this is a no brainer.” Immediately after I came home from the Australian Open I researched some schools and enrolled in a course that allowed me to complete 240 hours (that’s what u have to do to get certified at least in fla) at my own pace. 240 hours may seem like a lot, but I intend on completing it within the year. It normally takes 6 weeks!!!

I ain't mad at  her.  She can't play top level tennis forever and it's a recession dammit!

Serena's Blog

Big Brother will be watching Sisqo unleash the dragon

Sisqo will star on Big Brother UK along with Stephen Baldwin, Heidi Fleiss, and Vinnie Jones.  He might not get to see his paycheck, though, if Jamila Farid has any say.  Last year Jamila accused Sisqo of fathering her 10-year-old son; Jamila claims she had a one -night-stand with the singer in Switzerland when she was only 14-years-old

Kim Kardashian has a new sex tape

Kim K. has a new sex tape.  This time the lucky guy is.....a chicken!  Check out Kim's new sexually-charged commercial for Carl's, Jr.  Too bad she wasn't this participatory with Ray J.

If you absolutely just HAVE to floss

Image and flossage courtesy of Computer-choppers.com

If you absolutely just HAVE to floss this holiday season, consider buying this 24-karat gold-plated SONY Playstation 3 console. It comes complete with two controllers and a one year warranty for $4999 USD. If that doesn't do it for you, you can also purchase a gold and black Blackberry Tour 9630 for $899 or a platinum plated iMac. Here's to the flosser in you.

Original master to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to be auctioned

The original master test proof recording of Michael Jackson's hit song 'Thriller' will go under the hammer at a Bonhams Auction on December 20th. The recording is expected to fetch USD $4,000-6,000. The acetate disc features the title song from the Thriller album along with the instrumental version. The record was used by Grammy-winning master recording engineer Bruce Swedien to check the sound quality before Jackson released the single version of his hit song in January 1984. The record has only been played once. The album is being sold to benefit scholarships for students at California State University Summer Arts. Other items up for sale include a T-shirt Michael wore in the 'Beat It' video (estimate sale price USD $10,000-12,000) and a collectible item (estimate: USD $500-700).

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If you thought you picked up some steals on Black Friday check this out

Fans of Oceans Eleven and The Italian Job pay attention: this was a crime so well executed, it belongs right up there with those heist films. On July 10, 2009, a man walked into a WalMart store in Orange County, Florida, and within minutes walked out with over $200,000. The man walked into the store mid morning posing as a shopper. He put two boxes into his cart then attached a WalMart nametag to his shirt. Wearing his nametag he walked right past a legitimate employee at the customer service counter, through two sets of doors, and emptied the safe of its contents. He then calmly walked right back out the store with his two boxes full of enough cash to buy several houses in this economy. Time to complete the heist? Six minutes flat.

Watch the video here. And thank you for stealing shopping at WalMart.

Another one bites the duss...

Giant magazine announced Monday (November 30) that it will suspend printing of the bi-monthly magazine, and focus its efforts online, with the launch of GiantLife.com.

The magazine was acquired by Radio One in 2007, but over the past few years, the ecomonic downturn has hit magazines hard. King closed its doors earlier this year, followed by the closing of Vibe. Now, Giant is following suit.

GiantLife.com is the new focus, where they will feature celebrity profiles, coverage of cultural events and special features of emerging talent in the African American community like JET does.
Giant's final cover will feature Alicia Keys, and will hit newsstands December 15.

Sprewells ain't selling like they used to

U.S. Marshalls auctioned off his 70 ft. yacht last year after he defaulted on payments. Now former NBA star Latrell Sprewell is facing foreclosure on his $5.4 million mansion in Westchester County, New York. Sprewell, 39, bought the 3.3 acre property in Purchase, New York in January of 2000 for $2.3 million. Four years later, he took out a 30-year mortgage with Washington Mutual for $1,612,000. He began missing payments last year according to court records. The home is due to be auctioned off January 7th at the Westchester County Courthouse so if you are still kicking yourself about missing the Michael Jackson auction and have a spare million or two sitting around, check it out. The recession is real.

Michael Jackson's glove set a new auction record

The iconic white glove Michael Jackson wore in 1983when he premiered the moonwalk during Billie Jean at the Motown 25th Anniversary special has set the auction world ablaze. The glove was auctioned off by Julien's Auctions for US$420,000 including taxes and fees ($350,000 excluding them) this past Saturday at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City's Times Square. Hong Kong businessman Hoffman Ma won the auction on behalf of the Ponte 16 Resort Hotel in Macau.

Michael gifted the glove to Walter "Clyde" Orange of the singing group the Commodores backstage after his performance that night. Orange felt it was time to sell the piece of music history. Other Jackson items were also up for auction: the fedora Jackson wore that same night fetched $22,000 against an estimate of $2,000 and a jacket that Jackson wore on his 1989 "Bad" tour sold for $225,000 — 20 times its low estimate of $8,000.

Julien's also auctioned off memorabilia from other musicans on Saturday including items once belonging to Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Mariah Carey, but the buzz was about Michael Jackson. His presence dominated the cafe as did two giant photos of Jackson on either side of the auction block and a huge picture of his famed glove at the center.

The New Millennial Dr. Death Returns to Work

Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor accused of killing Michael Jackson announced last night he is returning to work. The doctor is in arrears with his child support and has not worked since Jackson's death. For those of you interested in booking an appointment with the New Millennial Dr. Death you can find him at the Armstrong Medical Clinic, Acre Homes, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

Murray has admitted to administering Propofol and various benzodiazepines at Michael Jackson's home without a pulseox monitor, a defibrillator, and other monitoring equipment as well as leaving Jackson alone while on the medication; Murray says he was only gone for a few minutes. Police investigators say he was gone for at least an hour while Jackson slipped into respiratory depression leading to an eventual cardiac arrest. Murray maintains he did not give Jackson "anything that should have killed him."

If you feel like rolling the dice on whether or not the good doctor will be taking phone calls and visiting the loo during your important medical procedures, please book an appointment now. His receptionist is standing by.

Pontiac Silverdome SOLD...for less than a house

The former home of the Detroit Lions was auctioned off for a fraction of the $55.7 million it cost to build. A Toronto-based family-owned company bid $583,000 for the under-used 80,000 seat stadium on Monday, which is currently owned by the City of Pontiac, Mich., according to auctioneer Williams & Williams. The company plans to refurbish the Silverdome into a stadium for men's Major League Soccer and women's professional soccer teams, said the auctioneer.

The sale of the Silverdome takes a large financial burden off the hard-hit city of Pontiac, which has fallen on hard times since the GM plant closed there. The city could ill afford to continue paying $1.5 million in annual upkeep for the stadium. With a private owner, the property will go back on the tax rolls.

The Memphis Grizzlies announced yesterday that the strained one-year contract with 10-time All-Star and former league MVP Allen Iverson has ended after he played only three games. After the AP quoted owner Michael Heisley last week saying the team would "gladly" trade Iverson if a better prospect came along, The Grizzlies insist Iverson's departure is a mutual decision. He officially began an indefinite leave of absence on Nov. 7 to deal with "a personal issue".

General Manager chris Wallace released a statement saying, “Because of personal matters that forced him to leave the team on November 7, Allen will step away from the game at this time, allowing him to focus on those matters. As a result, we will be ending our contractual agreement with Allen, which will allow both parties to move forward. We wish Allen the best.”

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Dudes still pay for popcorn?

Mel B at London Vitamin Water Launch

That's Mel B looking like Moms Mabley hawking Vitamin Water XXX Berry in London...it's old news over here but fresh in the UK...

Wouldn't he have to graduate first? (aka he would be worse than Sarah Palin as VP)

50 Cent recently discussed how thrifty he has become with his flossin' mackin' and pimpin' in the recession: “I buy diamonds on a very regular basis, but now I am selling my old stuff before I get something new. These are times when you learn about the value of money...If you don’t lose money in this recession, it means you didn’t have enough to start off with. Sure, I lost a few million, but that’s because I have so much. This is a time that will sort out the strong from the weak. Any businessman who wants a piece of the future should learn for me. Obama is great. If he wants me as his financial adviser that would be cool.”

Source: Daily Telegraph UK

Antoine Walker is broke

Former NBA star Antoine Walker is broke--in millionaire's terms. The former forward made roughly $110 million over the span of a 12 year career including salary, adidas endorsements, and a cover for NBA Live 99. He still has over half that money left, but he is over $4 million in debt and facing check fraud charges. The Boston Globe gave a partial accounting of what he did with his money: two Bentleys, two Mercedes, a Range Rover, a Cadillac Escalade, a bright red Hummer--all customized/pimped/tricked out--he supported an entourage of 70 friends and family (isn't that how MC Hammer went broke?) and he built his mama a mansion in the Chicago suburbs, complete with an indoor pool, 10 bathrooms, and a full-size basketball court. At least he took care of mama and isn't facing child support charges.

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Can you lay these away?

this was bound to happen sooner or later, Walmart is selling cheap caskets online....

Eddie Murphy holds a Blue Light Special on his house

Five years (!) after his Englewood, New Jersey mansion Bubble Gum and Two Snaps Up Bubble Hill went on the market for $30 million, comedian Eddie Murphy has slashed the price in half in hopes of closing a sale. The 25,000 square foot 32-room Colonial-style mansion sits on a 5 acre lot and boasts an indoor pool, elevator, theater, recording studio, bowling alley, and a separate carriage house with a gym.

When Murphy listed the home in 2004 it was then the most expensive home in New Jersey. The home has been costing him $197,723 per year in taxes.

Listing information courtesy Dennis McCormack, Sotheby's Prominent Properties.

Today is everybody's damn birfday!

Linda Brown showed up to a Columbus, Ohio Burlington Coat Factory in a Hummer limo on Tuesday and announced she'd won the lottery and would pay for each person's merchandise up to $500. Well of course as soon as everyone heard that Shug, Poochie, Auntie DeeDee and Hickie and dem was getting calls and texts to jet down to the Burlington for the big give away. Soon the store was packed inside with cashiers ringing up purchases and a line outside to get in.

Turns out Linda Brown didn't have a dime to her name.

So you know what happened then, angry customers realizing they weren't getting free coats, began throwing merchandise on the floor and grabbing clothes without paying for them. Acording to witnesses: "Everybody was like, 'I still want my free stuff,' and that started the riot. It looked like (Hurricane) Katrina went through the store."

Police were called to the store to disperse the crowd, they're reviewing surveillance video to help capture the looters. Ms. Brown was arrested for three outstanding warrants, fraud, changing clothes while committing fraud, inducing panic and definitely not paying the limo driver. But first, she's sitting in K-Ward undergoing a mental health evaluation.

source: fox news

It's So Cold in the 'D'

Thousands of people showed up at Cobo Arena and outside neighborhood centers in Detroit Tuesday to get free stimulus money being offered to only 3,500 of the city's recently or soon to be homeless. The line around the downtown convention center started forming well before daybreak. Anger flared within a few hours as more people sought out a dwindling number of applications for the program. Members of the Detroit Police Department's Gang Squad and other tactical units were called in for crowd control. Check the news clip for details...