1st Full Moon of 2010

Tonight's (1/29/2010) full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon. This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.

But why will this moon be bigger than others? Here's how the moon works:

The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles from Earth. The moon's orbit around Earth – which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days – is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse. One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles closer than the other. So in each orbit, the moon reaches this closest point to us, called perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will tonight, making the moon bigger and brighter than any other full moons during the year. Tonight it will be about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons of the year, according to Spaceweather.com.

As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight. Look for the reddish, starlike object.

Full Moon Craziness

Many people think full moons cause strange behavior among animals and even humans. In fact several studies over the years have tried to tie lunar phases to births, heart attacks, deaths, suicides, violence, psychiatric hospital admissions and epileptic seizures, and more. Connections have been inconclusive or nonexistent.

The moon does have some odd effects on our planet, and there are oodles of other amazing moon facts and misconceptions:

•A full moon at perigee also brings higher ocean tides. This tug of the moon on Earth also creates tides in the planet's crust, not just in the oceans.

•Beaches are more polluted during full moon, owing to the higher tides.

•In reality, there's no such thing as a full moon. The full moon occurs when the sun, Earth and the moon are all lined up, almost. If they're perfectly aligned, Earth casts a shadow on the moon and there's a total lunar eclipse. So during what we call a full moon, the moon's face is actually slightly less than 100 percent illuminated.

•The moon is moving away as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year.

The Moon Illusion

Finally, be sure to get out and see the full moon as it rises, right around sunset. Along the horizon, the moon tends to seem even bigger. This is just an illusion.

You can prove to yourself that this is an illusion. Taking a small object such as a pencil eraser, hold it at arm's length and compare its size to that of the moon just as it rises. Then repeat the experiment later in the night and you'll see that the moon compares the same in both cases. Alternately, snap two photos of the moon, with a digital camera or your cell phone, when the moon is near the horizon and later when it's higher in the sky. Pull both photos up on your computer screen and make a side-by-side comparison.

So there you go.. Now you got a taste of my science geek side :).

Damages Season 3 Premieres Tonight @10 on FX

                                               
I don't know how many of ya'll know about this show but ya'll need to get into it. It's fab shit. I'll give you a small briefing about the show before I get into what season 3 promises to bring us.

The series follows the turbulent lives of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), the nation’s most revered and reviled high-stakes litigator and her bright, ambitious young protégé Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne).


After her unprecedented victory over billionaire Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), Patty Hewes has the legal world at her feet. Just as she’s pondering her next move, Daniel Purcell (William Hurt), a man from Patty’s mysterious past, storms back into her life, catapulting Patty into a new legal challenge. What starts as a domestic murder case, escalates into the highest reaches of government as Patty unearths a vast conspiracy.

Patty Hewes (Close) is back in action, tackling the most challenging case of her illustrious career. Following up Patty's decisive victory over corrupt CEO Arthur Frobisher (Danson) in Season 1 and her decimation of Ultima National Resources in Season 2, Patty Hewes has recently been appointed by the U.S. government to recover billions of dollars in stolen assets from the largest investment fraud in U.S. history, a fraud perpetrated by the esteemed financier Louis Tobin.

Ellen Parsons (Byrne) is quickly rising up the legal ranks at her new job. But life for Ellen gets much more complicated when her new boss begins investigating the Tobin case. Ellen realizes she may not have escaped Patty Hewes after all. And this season explores the ties, the secrets and the lies that bind Ellen Parsons to Patty Hewes. Let's not forget that Patty put a hit out in Ellen in season 1 & Ellen was working with the feds to get Patty locked in season 2.

Season 3 sets the stage for Patty Hewes to have finally met her match in deception, manipulation and intimidation. Inspired by recent events in the world's economic collapse, Season 3 showcases Damages signature legal-thriller storytelling as Patty Hewes takes on the Tobin family - a secretive clan determined to protect its interests at all costs. The Tobin family members have maintained their complete and total innocence. They claim not to have known anything about Louis Tobin's fraud. But Patty Hewes believes otherwise and will stop at nothing to prove it. Patty and her trusted lieutenant Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan) do battle against the Tobin family's trusted attorney Leonard Winstone (Martin Short), son Joe Tobin (Campbell Scott), and Louis Tobin's wife Marilyn (Lily Tomlin).

Tune in tonight at 10pm on FX

Confused...

IDK if he knows how I really feel. IDK if he even cares. What I do know is that I'm not going to loose myself behind another dude, never again. I have a lot on my mind and need to make some choices before the weekend is out. The only thing I can do is pray & follow my heart. Only problem is what if my heart goes aganist my god given instincts that I've learned to embrace? What if my mind is playing tricks on me to sabotage something good? I have many questions I need answered. the most important one is, Do you really care for me the way you say you do?

Majority Backs Medical Marijuana & Feds Won't Budge

When it comes to reforming the nation's health care system, Americans are firmly divided. But a surprisingly large majority now agrees that if you're sick, you should be allowed to pass the peace pipe.


Eighty-one percent of U.S. adults favor legalizing marijuana in a medical context, according to a telephone poll conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post last week. In 1997, 69 percent of respondents were in favor of the idea.

The news led some, such as the Raw Story's Stephen C. Webster, to conclude that "the medical marijuana debate among American voters is over." Indeed, voters in nine states have approved medical marijuana provisions, beginning with California in 1996.

But it's not just citizens who are catching whiffs of a budding new era: The legislatures of five other states, most recently New Jersey, also passed their own laws setting up specific, government-sponsored programs that provide controlled access to the plant to ill patients bringing to 14 the grand total of states where medical marijuana is available.

Studies have shown that marijuana can help fight pain in some patients and ease nausea that often accompanies cancer treatments.

Despite the Obama administration's recently stated tolerance for state-sponsored medical marijuana measures (the Justice Department announced last year it won't prosecute patients abiding by state laws), pot is an illegal drug under federal law, and users can be punished under a number of strict penalties. Since 1970, the DEA has classified marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance, alongside heroin and LSD, all of which have been deemed to have a "high potential for abuse" and "no currently accepted medical use."

Yet scientists seeking federal clearance to grow and study their own marijuana crops for therapeutic effects continue to find their requests rebuffed. "Marijuana is the only major drug for which the federal government controls the only legal research supply and for which the government requires a special scientific review," The New York Times reports. That supply is grown on a single plantation at the University of Mississippi. Meanwhile, scientists investigating other illegal drugs such as LSD can turn to many other suppliers.

Despite strong support from local voters, state efforts to allow medical marijuana use often have gone up in smoke because of federal restrictions.

The first to fail was Arizona. Voters approved a ballot measure in 1996 allowing physicians to prescribe the drug. But they are barred from doing so professionally since it is against federal law. Some states got around this barrier by using other words such as "recommend" instead of "prescribe." A new provision to change Arizona's medical marijuana wording is gaining steam and may end up on the ballot later this year, CollegeNews reports.

In 1998, the District of Columbia's vote to legalize medical marijuana was superseded by congressional action. Congress recently cleared the way for the medical marijuana program to begin, though, so the D.C. council is moving ahead with plans to set up five dispensaries.

Finally, in 2003, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed a bill that allows people arrested and prosecuted on possession charges to use "medicinal necessity" in their defense, which they must prove with a physician's recommendation. But the state's terminally patients are still irked that they have turn to unreliable black market sources to procure their medicine.


So while medical marijuana activists can cheer at the news that voters are on their side, the government is still in many cases behind the (high) times.

Earthquake in Haiti

Haitian Kids Killed By The Earthquake

The magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday is the strongest earthquake to hit the region in more than two centuries, geologists say.

While earthquakes are not uncommon in the Caribbean island country, the recent Haiti earthquake's intensity surprised experts. Julie Detton, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey says "It's quite strange from a historical perspective". Haiti is part of the island of Hispaniola, which also hosts the Dominican Republic. The last major earthquake to strike Haiti's side of the island was in 1860. Yesterday's initial earthquake, which struck at about 5 p.m. local time yesterday, spawned dozens of aftershocks, about 15 of which were magnitude 5 or greater. Whether the earthquake could trigger other major quakes is not known.
"It's not something that we can project is going to happen," Detton said. "But definitely if you're moving two plates in one area, you're building up stress and strain in another."

Haiti Earthquake: Seismic Stresses
The Haiti earthquake was caused by the release of seismic stresses that had built up around two tectonic plates. The motions of these plates create what are known as strike-slip faults, where two sections of Earth's crust are grinding past each other in opposite directions. "The Caribbean plate is moving eastward with respect to the North American plate," Detton said. When the stresses along the fault lines reach a certain point, they can be released in bursts of energy that cause earthquakes, although it's unclear when the energy will be discharged as a series of small quakes or as one big temblor. Since Haiti is very close to the boundary where the Caribbean and North American plates meet, fault lines linked to the plates' movements run right through the country, Detton said. In fact, the epicenter of the earthquake was about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince. In addition, the Haiti earthquake was very shallow, being centered just 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) below Earth's surface. This put impoverished Port-au-Prince close to the most intense shaking, contributing to the scale of the devastation: Thousands are feared dead and countless buildings have collapsed, from schools and hotels to the Haitian Parliament and local UN headquarters.


The American Red Cross estimates that the Haiti earthquake may have affected about three million people in total.

This is truly a sad & terrible event. To All, please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.

for information about helping with donations & other stuff you can use the following info: UNICEFor call 1-800-4UNICEF, Operation Helping Hands, Mercy Corps  1-888-256-1900,  The Pan American Development Foundation and http://www.madre.org/

Danger Lies About Ray J Being Gay.... SMH

So in a post I did I believe yesterday about danger "Outting" Ray J it was brought to my attention  that she now takes back that statement. According to Rap Basement.com Danger says "got mad and I over-reacted. I can't get mad over little things anymore... I need to stop f*cking up. I'll be the first to say that I am wrong and I was wrong. Ray J put me on and I will always respect him and love him for that. No matter who I'm dating. I'm sorry Ray, I love you. Do you forgive me?" .. If that is the case I was Ray J, I wouldn't forgive her.  Anyway to view detail in full (well at least the details I saw) click Here.  I'm done with this. If anything else comes up. I will not blog about it. LOL! Me personally, I think Ray J gagged & is paying her off. However, thats just what I think.. lol

Secret Diary Of A Call Girl Season 3

The series stars Billie Piper as Hannah, a high-class escort living in London. But hey, it's not easy being a call girl. You've got to keep your profession a secret from everyone (she's known as Belle in the escort world) and live by a set of ironclad rules, the first being to keep your two identities completely separate. Yeah, you can see that this house of provocative cards is just begging to be toppled over by the slightest breeze. 'Call Girl' has a retro, Vargas Girl feel to it, but also manages to delve into the nitty-gritty world of sex for sale. That's probably because it's based on the real-life blog and books by a person known only as Belle de Jour. The series began life as a British TV show and premiered in the U.S. on Showtime to the highest ratings the network had seen in four years. Nearly one million viewers tuned into the premiere; its closest rival was 'Dexter' with 604,000. This is another 1 of my favorite’s show time series. With having friends of mine in the sex work business I find that this show does display a lot of the truths about sex work, both good & bad. Anyway, I look forward the start of Season 3 which begins Jan. 25th at 10pm.
Check out the promo video for season 2 below...

United States Of Tara Season 2

If you haven't checked out 'United States of Tara' yet, you don't know what you’re missing. Season 2 of the Showtime series is set to premiere March 22, 2010. With season 1 episodes on Showtime on demand you'll have more then enough time to bring yourself up to date. The main character Tara played by actress Toni Collette is a working mom who suffers from multiple personalities (4 to be exact). First there's Tara: A working mom of two who paints nursery room murals, then Alice: A perfect homemaker who bakes cakes that would make Bree Hodge( desperate housewives) jealous, then there's T: An edgy, pot-smoking teen who loves stealing lip gloss from the drugstore & let me not forget Buck: A beer-swilling, chopper-riding Vietnam vet who doesn't mind kicking ass. John Corbett, Brie Larson, Keir Gilchrist & Rosemarie DeWitt add more spark & round out the cast The show scored an early renewal after averaging 2.67 million viewers per week, giving Showtime its highest ratings since 2004. I personally think this show is brilliant. I fell in love with the show watching the 1st episode. I know at the end of season 1 Tara had a 5th personality surfacing by the name of "Gimmie." Gimmie seemed to be an immature "Drop Dead Fred/The Mask" type personality, well as far at the mischief is concerned. So best believe I will be tuning in to see what new crazy things develop in the new season. Again season 1 is available via On Demand right now, and you can also download it from iTunes, Amazon or Blockbuster. The Season 1 DVD has been released Dec. 29, 2009.

Check out this Promo video of Season 1 below...

Danger Outs Ray J!!! You'll Gag At Who She Says His "Lover" Is...

Monica Leon A.K.A Danger (from "For the Love of Ray J) has had enough. I guess those "Smashed the homies" jokes went too far. In an interview with Devyn's Playground Radio in Los Angeles, Danger discloses some very personal & might I add "Downlow" info about her former love interest and R&B singer Ray J. I can go on but it would be a lot easier & more fun for you to listen to the interview yourself. I'll just say one more thing… you’ll gag at who she names to be Ray J's long time lover. I'm done! You'll have to check out the interview to get the goods.

Check out Monica "Danger" Leons interview below...


Shout outs to Whats The Tea for this one.

Omarion's New Video "Speedin"... What do you think?

So Omarion is releasing his third solo album tomorrow titled "Ollusion." The 1st single off the album is "Speedin'". I'm still not sure how I feel about the single yet. I have to let it grow on me, if it even does. The video however is nice. I enjoy watching the video a lot perhaps that will get me to like the song. Omarion is looking type good in the video. He cut his braids off and i must say the new look works for him. Well, he can go without the chipmunk tail bush thingy in the back of his head. You might also notice the leading lady in the video as none other then Khloe Kardashian's best friend Malika. I must say she's looking very good (not like she doesn't always).

Check out the video below & don't forget to cop Omarion's newest album "Ollusion" in stores tomorrow, January 12, 2010...

How soon is too soon when it comes to falling in love?

I don't usually post personally blog entries (other then my poems) but I wanna try something different.

I just want to do a quick relationship overlook before we get to the current stuff. First off, I've never been big on casual sex. Don't get me wrong I've had my share of 1 night stands and flings; I'm a man, a gay man at that. However, I have always been more into being in actually relationships with people or at least having 1 steady sex partner even if we don't consider it a "relationship" he's my go to guy for when I have an itch that needs to be scratched if your catching what I'm throwing.

So I've been dating this guy for about 3 months now. We met online exchanged a few messages for like 2 months, then finally traded numbers & started chopping it up over the phone. We chatted on the phone everyday for damn near a month before we finally made plans to meet in person. We made plans to meet up for brunch on a Saturday afternoon & just chill to see how things went. Needless to say everything went good. We had a lovely convo over brunch (which was good because I got to see his facial expressions which I couldn't see over the phone). After brunch we went back to his place & no we did not do the do. We chilled, smoked a few blunts, watched movies & talked all night. Let me not forget I did end up spending the night at his place, but that was because it was late & he didn't want me to travel home. He's such a gentleman. Anyways, since things went really well that time we decided to keep seeing each other. If it isn’t broke don't fix it, right? Well, that is until it breaks lol. So we kept dating openly for a month before we both decided to take the next step & make it official. So now that we're exclusively dating all has been well. I get frustrated at times because of our work schedules we can only spend time with each other on the weekends but we make it work. Now I’ve been in a few relationships in which very few were real serious long term relationships but until now have I been able to say to myself, "damn I could marry this man." I've bounce my thoughts around to friends but that got nowhere being that most of my friends either just love living the single life or are just in love with the idea of being in love but sadly have never experienced it. Now out of the ones that know where I’m coming from I’ve gotten mixed feedback, naturally. It's not surprising that most ask me if I love him. My answer is yes. I do love him & I find myself falling deeper & deeper for him the more we spend time together. Am I head over heels in love with him? No. However, if we keep going at the rate we are, then that’s not far away at all. For everyone that asked me: “Don’t you think it’s too early to be in love?” My question to them & ya'll readers is " How soon is too soon when it comes to falling in love?” I mean I don't think anyone can determine that. I'm not saying it was love at 1st sight (in which I do believe in). I believe that you can't put a time limit to determine the intensity in which 1 person cares for another. I have been in love, it went sour but it was good while it lasted. I know how it feels to be in love. I also know that I’ve never felt a love like this before, his love, the greatest love that I’ve known thus far & nothing will take that away (fingers crossed, lol). So to bring back the question, How soon is too soon when it comes to falling in love? My answer would be, "It's never too soon. It’s whenever you heart is ready. So to everyone with the negativity, my haters & the bitter, broken, scorn bicthes out there I promise you 1 thing. This love is gonna last. Ask me next year how things are going & I’ll be more then happy to tell ya'll "Just fine, Thanks!" Hopefully I’d have a ring on this pretty little finger of mine, lol. That’s just wishful thinking. I'm out ya'll. Please comment! I love the feedback.

Gary Coleman Rushed to Hospital

 According to TMZ: Gary Coleman was taken to the hospital early this morning. We're told Coleman was transported at 8:03 AM from Custom Hotel in Los Angeles where he was staying. His rep is still trying to confirm what happened but people who were with Coleman told the rep there were signs of a seizure. Coleman was in Los Angeles doing interviews to promote a something called "Midgets vs. Mascots." He did several interviews before being taken to the hospital.

UPDATE -- A friend of Coleman's who was with him this morning tells TMZ that Coleman was sitting on the bed when he went into what the friend said "looked like a seizure." Coleman came around and 911 was called.  Coleman was asked simple questions like "What month is it?" and whether or not he knew the name of anyone in the room -- Coleman was "foggy" and did not know the answers.

Chris Henry's Fiancee Won't Face Charges

Loleini Tonga, fiancee of Chris Henry, will not face any charges stemming from the incident that led to his death. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Homicide Unit completed its investigation, they announced today, and "determined that there was no evidence of reckless driving or excessive speed by Ms. Tonga." Cops said Tonga was cooperative throughout their investigation.

True Blood Season 3- Lafayette Gets A Boyfriend

Season 3 of the HBO hit True Blood will introduce a new love interest into the plot by way of a boyfriend for the über popular gay character, Lafayette, played my Nelsan Ellis. The character Jesus, played by Kevin Alejandro, is a hospital orderly who Lafayette meets during an episode which involves Lafayette’s mother, played by Alfre Woodard. Jesus is expected to be a highly-present character, appearing in almost every episode throughout the season. Season 3 of True Blood is set to start airing on HBO June 2010.

Ryan Leslie Covers BLEU Mag

Award-winning singer/songwriter/producer Ryan Leslie covers the winter 2010 issue of BLEU magazine, to hit newsstands January 20th. This issue also features an exclusive sit-down interview with American Idol winner Fantasia as she addresses the rumors surrounding The Color Purple musical and the T on her upcoming VH1 reality show “Fantasia For Real.”

Actress Keke Palmer A Rapper?

Actress Keke Palmer posted video to YouTube this week of friends having fun, freestyling over Lil Wayne’s 2008 hit track “A Milli.” The girls definitely had the better flow on this one. Sorry bois. Who knew the beautiful young Keke is not only a talented actress & singer but a budding rapper. She got skillz!

Check out the video below...