Let me say I’ve always been a fan of Kerry
Washington (pictured above). I’ve always thought she was a solid actor.
I really enjoyed her performance in the
independent film Night Catches Us which I saw at the 2010 Maryland Film
Festival (which I reviewed here), but one of my favorite performances by her though was in
the poorly received film I Think I Love My Wife (even though I liked it) where
she played the deliciously vampy Nikki.
I used the term vampy because she was off
the chain without being ghetto. She was just a wild girl and we don’t see that
in film with women of color without them being ghetto, loud and obnoxious. A
really fine performance.
Her performance in I Think I Love My Wife
was my favorite by her—until Scandal.
The level of nuanced performance she
gives in Scandal is in a word—OUTSTANDING. Most actors can’t play nuance.
They’re either WAY UP or WAY DOWN with their expressions and performance. Kerry
can play the perfect subtlety.
It’s sad that much like the Oscars that the
Emmys can be a “personality contest” and if this show does not become a hit and
get renewed she may never get a well deserved Emmy for her brilliant
performance in Scandal.
Below is what I said about Scandal when it was announced in February 2011
Cool Black's Mad Commentary: I'm a fan of Shonda Rhimes (Pictured left) DESPITE not watching any of her previous shows. Her “medical shows” just didn’t appeal to me. I’m a fan because of the moves she has made in Hollywood as a successful African American Executive Producer.
I’m also a fan of Kerry Washington having enjoyed her work in numerous films including the recent Night Catches Us (You can read what I had to say about that film here ) I also like the additions of Columbus Short and Henry Ian Cusick and YES unlike her other shows the concept of this show does appeal to me.
May 11, 2012 Scandal was renewed for Season 2! Read the news at The Huffington Posthere
See ALL of our posts about Scandal by clicking the show logo below
RELATED LINK Read about Kerry Washington at WIKIPEDIA
Whitney Houston death probe closed; 911 call released
By Alan Duke, CNN
Thu April 12, 2012
Los Angeles (CNN) -- The police investigation of Whitney Houston's death is "officially closed" with the conclusion that her death was an accidental drowning, the Beverly Hills Police Department said Wednesday.
With the case closed, police released the recording of the 911 emergency call in which a hotel security officer said the woman who called for help from Houston's room was "irate and pretty much out of it."
Investigators "found no evidence of foul play," a police statement said. "Based on the findings of our investigation and our review of the coroner's report, we have determined that this is not a criminal matter."
The Los Angeles County coroner released its autopsy report a week ago saying Houston's February 11 death was an accidental drowning with the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" as contributing factors.
The Beverly Hilton security officer did not identify Houston in the 911 call.
"I need paramedics, apparently I've got a 46-year-old female, found in the bathroom," he told the 911 operator. "That's all I've got right now, but they're requesting paramedics." (Houston actually was 48).
The autopsy report said her assistant found Houston face down in a tub of "extremely hot water" about 12 inches deep.
"I'm not sure if she fell, or if she was in the bathroom with the water," the hotel security officer is heard saying in the 911 call.
And you don't know if she's conscious or breathing at all?" the dispatcher asked.
"Apparently she wasn't breathing," the hotel employee said.
When the dispatcher asked if she had started breathing, the security officer said "I don't know. The person that called me was irate and pretty much out of it."
"Can you get me into the room so I can try to give CPR instructions?" the 911 operator asked.
"No, because she kept hanging up on us," the hotel security officer said.
Houston was last seen alive by her personal assistant in her Beverly Hilton hotel room about 3 p.m. that Saturday, the autopsy report said. The assistant left to run errands after telling Houston to take a bath in preparation for a pre-Grammy Awards party at the hotel that night, it said.
When the assistant returned to the locked room at 3:35 p.m., she found Houston "lying face down in the bathtub filled with water, unresponsive."
"The assistant called for her bodyguard, and together they pulled the decedent out of the bathtub," the report said.
When paramedics arrived about 10 minutes later, they moved Houston to the living room floor. It was at 3:55 p.m., 20 minutes after she was found by the assistant, when paramedics concluded she was dead, the report said.
The coroner's report stopped short of detailing what happened to Houston, but HLN's Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction medicine specialist, examined the autopsy report for CNN and suggested that she might have suffered a seizure brought on by the use of cocaine, possibly combined with a withdrawal from alcohol and a prescription sedative.
An empty bottle of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax was found in her room, but the level of the sedative found in her blood was low, he said. Empty beer bottles were also found, but alcohol was not detected in her body, he said.
"To me, a sudden drop-off in the Xanax level, a drop-off in your alcohol consumption, add cocaine, that's a recipe for a seizure," Pinsky said. "Somebody who's now upside down in a bathtub could easily seize and drown."
However, Henry Spiller, a toxicologist and director of the Kentucky Regional Poison Control Center, said the level of Xanax found in Houston's blood was not low enough to trigger a seizure. Those who abuse Xanax can take up to 20 pills a day, he said, and the level found in Houston's body would indicate she took four to six pills several hours before she died.
Since the drug was found in her blood, a seizure brought on by withdrawal is unlikely, he said.
The coroner's report notes that Houston suffered several small scald burns on her face at the time of her death. A 60% narrowing of her arteries found in the autopsy is "very mild heart disease," Pinsky said, which should not have caused a problem.
Spiller said that based on his experience with cocaine abusers, two things may have happened: Either Houston had a seizure and fell into the tub, or she had a cardiac arrhythmia. An arrhythmia occurs when the heart stops beating properly and fails to pump, depriving the brain of oxygen and causing a loss of consciousness. It can be fatal.
"If you look at cocaine deaths, more deaths are from arrhythmias than seizures," Spiller said. "Based on what is in the report, it seems more likely that she had a vasospasm (which shuts off blood flow to the heart) or a fatal arrhythmia."
Toxicology testing measured 0.58 micrograms of cocaine per milliliter of blood drawn from a vein in her leg during the autopsy, which Pinsky called a moderate level.
Spiller said for that level of cocaine to be in Houston's body, "we're talking about approximately half a gram of cocaine having been possibly ingested within 30 minutes to 90 minutes before her death. For someone who has been abusing cocaine, this may be their routine amount, but (for) someone who doesn't regularly use cocaine and therefore doesn't have a tolerance for the drug, this would be a high level."
Houston's cocaine use appeared to have occurred "in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel," Chief Coroner Craig Harvey told reporters when he released the preliminary report last month.
Investigators found "a small spoon with a white crystal like substance in it and a rolled up piece of white paper" in the bathroom where Houston drowned, coroner's investigator Kristy McCracken wrote.
"Remnants of a white powdery substance" were found on a bathroom counter, McCracken wrote.
"I also collected remnants of a white powdery substance from out of a drawer and from the bottom of a mirror in the same drawer in the bathroom counter," she wrote.
Detectives found a "plethora of medications bottles" in the hotel room, although the coroner concluded the prescription drugs "did not contribute to the death."
Along with cocaine and Xanax, the toxicology tests found other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl, the report said.
Houston won six Grammys and sold 170 million albums, singles and videos over her career.
In recent years, the singer's accomplishments were overtaken by her struggles with drug addiction.
CNN's Jack Hannah and Kareen Wynter contributed to this report.
Today marks Beyonce and Jay-Z's 4th wedding anniversary!
We expect the glamorous couple to celebrate this particular anniversary in big way, considering their well-documented love for the number "4" (it's the fourth month of the year, on the fourth day and each have the roman numeral of the all-important number tattooed on their left ring fingers).
Although the traditional wedding anniversary gift for four years is something silk or linen (boring), we're thinking the superstars will go with something a lot more flashy. Maybe a 4-carat diamond ring for Bey and four blinged out Rolexes for Jay?
But, whatever the couple decide to get one another we're sure it will be amazing.
But, nothing will top the ultimate gift the twosome received this year...their darling daughter, Blue Ivy (another clever "4" reference). Definitely another reason to raise a glass extra high tonight.
And while marriage and parenthood can change a lot of things--sleepless nights, changing dirty diapers during concert intermissions or perhaps even cleaning spit-up off of Chanel couture-- the First Family of hip-hop has handled it with grace and plenty of swagger.
Bey and Jay have proved that not much has changed since entering into holy matrimony on April 4, 2008--they are still selling out stadiums, popping bottles with billionaires and pretty much working towards world domination.
So in celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Carter's 4th anniversary, here's a look at our favorite moments of the duo canoodling courtside, working the red carpet and just being super cute. (At the bottom of the page here)
CLICK the button to see all of
our blog posts about Beyoncé
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our blog posts about Jay-Z
Cool Black's Mad Commentary: I'm a fan of Shonda Rhimes (Pictured left) DESPITE not watching any of her previous shows. Her “medical shows” just didn’t appeal to me. I’m a fan because of the moves she has made in Hollywood as a successful African American Executive Producer. 
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