I have an addition I'm not ever going to get treated for.
I'm addicted to chocolate.
Be it light, dark, white, whatever, the TransGriot like any estrogen based lifeform loves her some chocolate.
I have inhaled entire bags of Hershey's Kisses in two hours or less. Chocolate bars are not safe anywhere around me and neither are plain M&M's.
That love of chocolate extends to chocolate cake, chocolate cheesecake or any cheesecake with chocolate swirled in it, chocolate ice cream and chocolate shakes.
Hmm, just talking about chocolate is making me fiend for it.
And on that note, it's time to go get some. Have a feeling I'll be consuming mass quantities of it tonight.
I've discussed my love of iconic Houston centric foods on TransGriot. One of them I got reacquainted with when I went back home for the Christmas holidays was Shipley's Donuts.
Before Krispy Kreme even opened their first store in the Houston area, for 73 years Shipley's has been synonymous with donuts in H-town. They have expanded their reach beyond Houston and have 220 locations in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Some of the Shipley's locations have drive through windows in addition to being open 24 hours for all us night owls who wanted something to eat after leaving the club, on the way home from a late night at work.
So if I was fiending for a ham and cheese or sausage and cheese kolache at 3 AM or wanted a half dozen glazed donuts to eat when the mood struck me with my hot chocolate, no problem.
One of the Shipley's locations is just four blocks down the street from my grandmother's house on MLK Blvd near Loop 610. I needed some exercise and fresh air, so I decided to bounce from my grandmother's place for a few minutes and take a little stroll to grab a half dozen since I hadn't eaten them since 2000.
Yep, they were still as delicious as I remembered them,
I went back the day I was going to leave Houston to take some with me to eat on the bus ride back to Da Ville, but the moment I picked to purchase them they were out of glazed donuts. I was a little disappointed and didn't consider grabbing a few kolaches instead because I had my heart set on the donuts.
Oh well, they'll be waiting for me on my next visit home.
A name derived from the Latin language meaning "A wise councilor." A Catholic Saint.
The sexiest woman on the planet. Never see her without peeing your pants. Can't help but pop one when you look at her. Always laughing and has a smile that makes you poop your pants, but you gotta love her.
In honor of my Houston homegirl Beyonce snagging six Grammys, including the Song of the Year Grammy for 'Single Ladies', had to post the Chipettes version from the recent Alvin and The Chipmunks sequel movie.
Since I have yet to see and I'm still waiting for Seasons 2-6 of A Different World to be sold on DVD, (and for that matter Seasons 2-6 of Living Single), I was glad to hear that TVOne will start broadcasting tonight my favorite show at 10-11 PM Eastern and 1-2 AM Eastern Time.
I own Season One and I've already expressed myself about how I felt about it. (it sucked). I deal with those episodes until the Debbie Allen produced ones start showing up in Season 2.
At any rate, glad to see it's back on the air.
Now if we A Different World fans could get the opportunity to buy the DVD's for our favorite show.
The night me and other Battlestar fans have been waiting for ever since the reimagined BSG ended and we got a taste of it in a miniseries is finally taking place.
We finally get to see the season premiere on SyFy of the Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica next week, but this weekend they reran the episode kicking off the show. The new episodes start next week.
There's even a website on SyFy that has a mock Caprican newspaper that you can leave comments on.
Every now and then you'll see one on the various posts from TauronMoni on it. ;)
While this one is set in the BSG universe, it's taking place 58 years before the events depicted in Battlestar Galactica.
I'm anxious to see how it will play out and looking forward to killing an hour in front of the TV watching it.
With all the fuss over the Leno vs Conan controversy, and I'm not a big fan of either one, it reminded me that January 3, 1989 was the first broadcast of my standard for late night shows, The ArsenioHall Show.
Late night shows haven't been the same to me since his went off the air.
The day we Battlestar fans have been waiting for since our fave series found our Earth 150,000 years ago and went out on top in the ratings after four seasons is fast approaching.
Caprica, the prequel series for Battlestar Galactica will finally start Friday, January 22.
While waiting for Caprica to start we BSG junkies have been teased with trailers and given a taste of Caprica thanks to last year's miniseries.
While there are some elements that are familiar to BSG viewers, this prequel takes place 58 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica in a technologically advanced world similar to our own planet.
The other thing that's an integral part of this series is the dawn of the Cylons weaved into the stories of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas.
And while we do have a teenage William Adama, the future commander of the Battlestar Galactica appearing in this series, the other characters are specific to this series and this time period in the BSG storyline.
It's being produced by Ronald Moore and David Eick, the same team that brought us BSG as well.
In any case, looking forward to finally getting the chance to watch intelligently written TV again and being back in the BSG universe even though we know how this story is going to play out.
Finally picked up my copy of Archie 604, which continues the six issue story arc of the comic world's favorite playa-playa deciding to settle down with one of the two lovely ladies vying for his romantic attention.
In Issues 600, 601, and 602 it shows us Archie's life after marrying Veronica, complete with twins, living large lifestyle and an executive job at Lodge Industries.
But fans of the Archie comics, and count the TransGriot among them, were rooting for Betty to marry Archie, and starting with issue 603 that's what we got.
We're treated to the other fork in Memory Lane and what transpired as Archie gets engaged to and is now on the verge of marrying Elizabeth Ann Cooper.
Unlike the earlier issues in which Veronica's spare no expense wedding was the hit of the social season that garnered media coverage, Archie and Betty's wedding is a small scale one at Pop's.
Archie is having a hard time finding a job like everyone else in America these days. Betty ends up getting the job in New York she applied for prior to graduating from college and she and Archie move there after their wedding.
Veronica pins him down at the reception and Archie explains why he chose Betty over her. She offers as the maid of honor to pay for the honeymoon since money is tight for the newlyweds, but Archie declines the offer. (Hmm, Veronica's growing up)
After a year in New York, they move back to Riverdale on their first anniversary and end up with teaching jobs at Riverdale High. I'll let you read 604 to find out why.
Betty also drops the bomb at the end of the issue that she's pregnant.
Looking forward to picking up Issues 605 and 606, the final one in this six comic series arc that wraps up this storyline.
Oh by the way, if you missed any of these issues, there will be one coming out around March which will consolidate the entire story arc in one issue tentatively titled Archie, Marry Me.
Anxiously waiting for Issue 605 to hit the stands now to see if Betty has twins.
Most of you TransGriot readers know I'm a big fan of the Archie comic books and have been reading them and the Josie and the Pussycats ones since childhood.
I've been eagerly reading and collecting the six comic book series that started this summer with Issue 600 in which Archie on the eve of his college graduation takes a walk down Memory Lane. He takes the left fork and is catapulted into a world that has him getting married to Veronica with Betty eventually agreeing to be the maid of honor at their wedding.
Since there were six comic books in the series and the fan sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of Betty marrying Archie, they gave the people (and the TransGriot) what they wanted starting with Issue 604.
Archie at the end of Issue 603 leaves the big house he shares with Veronica and the twins to take a walk in the first winter snow of the season as is his tradition.
He takes the other fork of Memory Lane and is deposited back in time, winter coat and all to the eve of his college graduation once again. The ceremony goes on as before with Dilton giving the valedictory speech (who else?) but with everyone after the graduation heading to Pop's Chocklit Shoppe for a post graduation party.
Archie drives himself, Reggie and Jughead to the event. While doing so Archie tells the fellas he's made up his mind which of the two lovely ladies competing for his attention he plans to marry.
After arriving at Pop's and trying to have a private chat with Veronica, he gives up after she constantly interrupts him with details about her upcoming fabulous post graduate life.
He finds Betty and joins her for a shared soda, After a few moments of conversation with her and confiding to Betty he would never be able to fit into Veronica's high society world, he pops the question with a stunned Veronica looking on.
I'm betting that Veronica's spoiled butt doesn't, but then again she may shock us. Monica Roberts October 10, 2009
Can I call it people? Wish I had the same luck picking five numbers plus a powerball.
Veronica didn't even come close to handling it with the class that Betty did when the script was flipped. She acted just like the spoiled little rich girl she was while storming out of Pop's.
I'll let y'all read Issue 604 for yourselves. In the meantime, I'm waiting for Issue 605 to hit the stands detailing Archie and Betty's married life and Issue 606 closing out this story arc.
It was a NBC show that debuted on March 30, 1964 with Art Fleming as its host. I used to watch it back in the day until it went off the air in 1975.
Jeopardy! was revived and debuted in its current format on September 10, 1984 with host Alex Trebek. It is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the revival during the 2008-09 television season.
I am such a fan of the show I bought the computer version of it a few years ago, and beat it down to win $26,000 virtual dollars.
Like all Jeopardy! fans I play along and try to answer the questions before the contestants do. I got so good at it that one day during my airline days I was competing with one of my coworkers Rick Owen. At that time Jeopardy! came on in Houston at 3;30 PM and we had a break during that period.
Both of us were in such a zone that day the rest of the peeps in the ticket counter breakroom where were we matched up in this battle of wits would wait for one of us to speak before they would chime in with their answer.
After it was over, my co workers offered to take up a collection for me and Oscar's (Rick's nickname) hotel bills so that we could fly to LA and break the Jeopardy! bank.
Yeah yeah, I know. Geek moment. But I saw it (and still do) as an excellent opportunity to test and hone my knowledge.
And yeah, I like Alex Trebek as the host.
I actually tried to audition for Jeopardy! when they had contestant searches in Houston and Louisville. There were 3,000 people at the Houston one and 2,500 at the one they held here in Louisville and I unfortunately had to be at work on the days they held them.
I know they are looking for African descended contestants on the show, so maybe I'll pursue that dream of appearing on Jeopardy and taking out Ken Jennings record.
TransGriot Note: Whenever I get in a militant mood (which this ENDA bullcrap has me in right now), I pull out my Isley Brothers CD along with Public Enemy's 'Can't Truss It', Cameo's 'Talking out the Side of Your Neck' and other political themed songs. I've been playing this one most of the day.
Time is truly wastin' There's no guarantee Smile is in the makin' You gotta fight the powers that be Got so many forces Stayin' on the scene Givin' up all around me Faces full a' pain
I try to play my music They say my music's too loud I tried talkin' about it I got the big run around And when I rolled with the punches I got knocked on the ground By all this bullshit going down
Time is truly wastin' There's no guarantee, yeah Smile's in the makin' We gotta fight the powers that be I don't understand it People wanna see, yeah Those that got the answers Red tape in the way I could take to it easy That's just half the fun, naw naw Seeking my satisfaction Keeps me on the run
I try to play my music They say my music's too loud I tried talkin' about it I got the big run around And when I rolled with the punches I got knocked on the ground By all this bullshit going down
Time is truly wastin' There's no guarantee, yeah yeah Smile is in the makin' We gotta fight the powers that be Fight it baby, yeah
Ooh, yeah, If you do it I can - fight the power C'mon, Fight it, fight the power Fight it, fight the yeah baby, yeah baby Fight it, c'mon, fight the power Fight it, fight it, fight the power Fight, fight, fight the power Stand up and fight it, fight the power Stand up, Stand up Fight the power Fight, fight, fight
fight fight the fight power I believe, I believe flight the power
I'm a movie junkie, and this is one I'm definitely looking forward to seeing when it hits my local multiplex on its projected release date of October 12.
Tyler Perry returns in front of a camera for the first time since Madea's Family Reunion, but you won't see Tyler's pistol packing alter ego in this story adapted for the big screen from the hit play of the same name.
Why Did I Get Married? stars an ensemble cast that in addition to Perry, includes Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Denise Boutte and Lamann Rucker.
Hmm. That's worth the price of admission and a large buttered popcorn alone. ;)
Why Did I Get Married? is the story about how difficult it is to maintain a solid loving relationship in modern times. It revolves around a group of eight married college friends who have gathered for their annual reunion in the snow-capped mountains of Colorado.
They discover that infidelity has creeped into one couple's marriage. It triggers a series of events over the reunion weekend in which secrets are revealed and they question how valid and solid their own marriages are. Both the husbands and wives also take hard looks at their own lives during this weekend as well.
This looks like another Tyler Perry hit. The trailers are already on The Net and I'll definitely be sitting in the front row next month happily munching my popcorn.
I just finished reading Transparent by Cris Beam. It's an interesting nonfiction book about several Los Angeles Latina and African-American transkids covering a period from 1998 to 2005.
One of the people featured in the book, Foxxjazell was familiar to me. I just wrote a blog post last month on her increasing popularity in California's rap scene as a transgender rapper. It was interesting to read her background story.
Some of it was sad, some triumphant. Some of their stories hit home and triggered some emotional memories concerning some things I was dealing with in my own childhood.
Cris Beam also weaves transgender history, science, and knowledge throughout the book. If you want to get some insight on some of the issues we deal with and how they affect these transkids, you may want to pick this book up and add it to your collection.
TransGriot Note: Battlestar Galactica is one of my favorite shows. As a writing exercise, one day I took this scene from the miniseries, imagined that Gaius Baltar and Number Six were Black and started writing.
We're at the phat crib of Dr. Darius Baltar, scientific genius and playa-playa. He's got a honey dip in his bedroom and Number 36-24-36 is quietly watching him.
"Trick, get up," said 36-24-36. "Who the frack are you?" "Get the frack up out of his bed before you find out who I am." "Darius, you gonna let her talk to me like that?" "Sorry babe, she’s got it going on," said Darius. “I did tell you before we got busy I was seeing somebody.” "So it’s like that, huh?” “Yep Terri, it is.” “My girlfriend Aisha warned me to leave your tired ass alone,” Terri said as she put her clothes on. "Whatever tramp, get out." said 36-24-36 as Darius puts on his robe. After Terri finished putting on her clothes, she rolled her eyes at Darius before storming out of the bedroom and slamming the door on her way out.
“Baby, I'm sorry...," he said with a contrite expression on his face. "Spare me, Darius. I came here because I need to tell your dog ass something." "And what's that?" "I'm a Cylon." "You're fracking kidding me, right?" "No, I'm not. Didn't you notice anything unusual about me?" "Naw baby, you’re fine as hell. But now that I think about it, there was that night I thought I saw red lights when we were doing the wild thang at the Caprica City Hilton."
He stepped back to take another good look at 36-24-36's shapely honey brown figure and hazel eyes. “Dayum! Y'all sure have come a long way, baby. Last time I peeped Cylons y'all looked like walking chrome toasters." "That's not all I have to tell you.” “What? You have a sister?” “I have many sisters. But that’s not important right now. Remember when I asked you for that little favor to look around the Colonial Fleet’s defense mainframe computers?" "Yeah. Your point?" "The point is that I played your pussy whipped punk azz. I needed you to help me complete my mission.” "What mission?" "We needed to find out what was up with the Colonial Fleet. Thanks to you I got the information I needed and sent it to the brothers and sistahs back on Cylon." "YOU DID WHAT?" said Darius. "I said I sent that information on the mainframe back to Cylon. Every fracking file." "Girl, you know what they'll do to a brotha if they find out?" "No, what?" "They'll fry my black azz for treason." “That’s your problem, not mine,” said 36-24-36. “What are you doing?" "I need to call my lawyer," Darius said as he picked up his phone. "That won't be necessary." "What do you mean, that won't be necessary?" "You heard me, that won’t be necessary,” said 36-24-36. “In a few hours there won't be anybody left on this planet to charge you with anything." "What are you talking about?" "The children humanity kicked to the curb are coming home,” said 36-24-36. “Today."
Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.
photos-Nichelle Nichols in 2004, as Lt Uhura, the EBONY magazine cover, Dr. Mae Jemison, Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, the christening of the Space Shuttle Enterprise
Nichelle Nichols in addition to being a trailblazing actress has been an inspiration for people of my generation and subsequent ones to not only follow their dreams, but reach for the stars.
She was born in Robbins, IL as Grace Nichols on December 28, 1932, just outside Chicago. She toured the Unites States, Canada and Europe with the Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington bands. She appeared in a Chicago production of Carmen Jones before she moved west and had her fateful meeting with Gene Roddenberry. Before casting her as Lt. Nyota Upenda Uhura on Star Trek, she'd worked as a guest actress on Roddenberry's first television series The Lieutenant.
As we Trekkies all know, it was Star Trek that made her a historical icon, launched her life into a new direction and sharpened her interest in space exploration.
But she almost quit the show. Frustrated during the first season over what she perceived as playing just a glorified telephone operator, she was ready to hang up the Starfleet uniform until she ran into Dr. Martin Luther King at a civil rights rally. Dr. King was a huge Star Trek fan and urged her not to quit. He pointed out to her that she was the first African-American actress who was on a network TV show playing a non-stereotypical role.
According to Nichols, he told her "Don't you know you have the first non-stereotypical role in television? For the first time the world will see us as we should be seen -- people of quality in the future. You created a role with dignity and beauty and grace and intelligence. You're not just a role model for our children, but for people who don't look like us to see us for the first time as equals."
She stayed and later made television history with the first interracial kiss on TV with costar William Shatner. She costarred in the six subsequent Star Trek movies and eventually her character was promoted to Commander.
Once Star Trek ended, she worked for NASA in the 70's and early 80's as part of a program to not only encourage African-American youth to consider math and science careers but recruit women and minority astronauts for NASA. She recruited Dr. Sally K. Ride, US Air Force Col. Guion Bluford (the first African-American in space), Dr. Judith Resnik and Dr. Ron McNair, who flew missions before both were killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster. The essay contest I won in 8th grade in which I earned a trip to NASA was part of that program.
And like other issues that Dr. King was prescient on, he was on target in terms of Nichols being a role model to African-American children and others. She was the inspiration for another Chicago girl who grew up to become the first African-American woman in space, Dr. Mae C. Jemison. She also inspired a New York City girl by the name of Caryn Elaine Johnson to shoot for an entertainment career after seeing her on Star Trek. Caryn Elaine Johnson would not only accomplish that goal, but would have a recurring role herself on Star Trek-The Next Generation as Guinan.
Nichols is considered part of the NASA family. She flew aboard NASA's C-141 Astronomy Observatory on its eight hour high altitude mission to analyze the atmospheres of Mars and Saturn. She was present along with her Star Trek castmates when the first space shuttle Enterprise was christened and was a guest of the Jet Propulsion Lab when Viking 1 soft landed on Mars on July 17, 1976. She has written two science-fiction novels about a tough black woman in space, Saturn's Child and its sequel, Saturna's Quest and is working on a third. She has since the mid 80's sat on the Board of Governors for the National Space Society.
So if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting her like I did back in the mid 70's, check out this multi-talented and passionate ambassador for space exploration.
I'm approaching six years of living in Kentucky. Moving here was the first time I'd lived more than 50 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico or in a city not on I-10. Even though Louisville and Kentucky has its charms and things I like about it, there are a lot of things I miss about home besides my family.
Fortunately one of the things I missed, Blue Bell ice cream is now sold up here and I have happily gotten reaquainted with it.
So without further ado, the twenty-five things I miss about Houston.
1A-The drive to New Orleans Before Katrina, New Orleans was THE getaway spot for many Houstonians. It was only a five hour drive or one hour plane ride away. I lived on the West Bank in Marrero for two years as a toddler and my godsister still lives there so it was doubly special to me. I loved driving that scenic stretch of I-10 that cuts through the Atchafalaya Swamp between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
1-Major league sports Astros baseball, Texans football, Rockets and Comets basketball. I can drive to Cincinnati, Chicago or St Louis to see the 'Stros, Indianapolis or Chicago to see the Rockets or Comets and Indy to see the Texans. (I refuse to drive to Nashville to go see them while Bud Adams still owns the Tennessee Traitors) While it's fun to cheer my home teams to victory in hostile arenas it's not the same seeing my teams in their road uniforms. While Bats games are enjoyable and the price is right, there's a huge difference between a Triple A game and a MLB one.
2-TSU and the Ocean of Soul Marching Band Grew up watching a lot of TSU games in the Astrodome. Spent a lot of time on TSU's campus for various reasons. Listening to the high stepping Ocean of Soul as they did musical battle with the other outstanding bands in the SWAC such as Grambling, Jackson State, Southern and Prairie View was the bomb as well.
3-Texas high school football Arguably the best in the country. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights there's high quality games going on at stadium complexes all over the area from Class 2A to Class 5A. Houston area teams are usually in the mix for state championships. TV stations in the area have 30 minute shows devoted just to covering it and there's a syndicated show that covers Texas high school football on a weekly basis. One of the sure signs that fall was coming for me is when the latest issue of Dave Campbell's Texas Football hits the stands.
4-Frenchy's chicken The Scott Street legend located between the TSU and UH campuses that's grown to five locations. Had many nights I rolled by Frenchy's at 3 AM to grab a three piece and those creole seasoned Frenchy fries or chow down on one of their po boys.
5-Katz's deli Katz's is an Austin institution that opened up a store in Montrose. I went to the Austin location after the 1999 lobby day and fell in love with their sandwiches and the caramel cheesecake. I did the happy dance when they opened up their Houston location in 2000.
6-The nighttime pride parade Because Houston can get rather toasty in late June, the pride parade became a nighttime event. Attendance and popularity skyrocketed as a result.
7-Hermann Park The Houston equvalent to Central Park in NYC. The Zoo, the Burke Baker Planetarium, the statue of Houston's namesake Sam Houston, Miller Outdoor Theater and Hippie Hill, the reflecting pool and a mini railroad train that circles a portion of it are all there on its 445 acres. The Museum District and Montrose are nearby, Rice University borders it on the west and the Texas Medical Center to the south.
8-Montrose Houston's eclectic gayborhood that also has St Thomas University, La Colombe d'Or hotel, the Chinese consulate, the Menil Collection and various bed and breakfast places in the area along with some of my fave restaraunts and shops.
9-The Galleria So many childhood and transition memories there. It's one of my fave malls because of the ice rink, the high end designer shops and its international fame. Did a lot of walking, shopping, eating and window shopping there. My high school prom was at one of the hotels there. I also miss the Harwin Drive discount shopping strip as well.
10-Galveston and fresh seafood It represented the beach in my youth and my transition in adulthood. My gender clinic is located there. Whether I got my seafood in Galveston, one of the restaurants like Gaido's, Pappas or at one of the local mom and pop seafood joints, it was plentiful and the bomb.
11-The amenities of large city living It aggravates me when I have to drive to Cincy or Indianapolis to see my favorite acts or have to wait for traveling plays, movies or shows to come here after they do limited engagements in larger cities elsewhere.
12-Marrrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyyyyyyeewitness news Rent the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Melvin P. Thorpe is modeled on Marvin Zindler, KTRK-TV's longtime pioneering crusading consumer affairs reporter who unfortunately died Sunday. Marvin's had more plastic surgery than many of the girls who dance at Rick's. The Friday Rat and Roach report of restaurants that failed city health inspections is punctuated by his 'sliiiiiiiiiiime in the ice machine' line.
13-Mattress Mack's Gallery Furniture commercials Another Houston institution. Mattress Mack ends his commericals by jumping up and down, holding a dollar bill and reciting his tagline 'Gallery Furniture will save you money.'
14-The Ensemble Theater and Black culture Houston's award winning Black theater company. Houston is also the epicenter of Black history and culture in Texas. If there was a African-American trailblazer in Texas, nine times out of ten they had a Houston address.
15-The downtown Houston skyline No matter what angle I looked at it, whether it was from the stands at Minute Maid park, from IAH, my south side 'hood or the southwest side, I got to watch our world famous modernistic skyline grow as the city did.
16-Texas barbecue Whether it was chowing down at Harlon's, Drexler's, Pappas, a street vendor in the parking lot of a nightclub or a neighborhood hole in the wall, it's all good no matter what 'hood I was eating it in.
17-UH Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, rah rah rah! I miss walking around campus, checking out Cougar basketball, football and baseball games and reliving some memories from the time I was there.
18-Houston Splash The Black gay pride weekend that includes a beach party in Galveston and events in Houston that usually happens the first weekend in May.
19-Majic 102 Houston's first R&B FM station that started broadcasting in 1977. Over my teen and young adult years our radios eventually were tuned to it. It's now owned by Cathy Hughes' Radio One.
20-Astroworld Houston's amusement park that was opened by Judge Roy Hofheinz in 1968 and later bought by Six Flags. I was horrified to find out Six Flags not only closed it, but tore it down in early 2006. Another place that has fond memories for me.
21-Shipley's Donuts Krispy Kreme only opened its first Houston location in 2000 and still got their butts kicked by Shipley's. It's a local doughnut chain that also offers stuffed kolaches and fresh coffee. Some of the locations, especially in the 'hood are 24 hour ones.
22-Charlie's Restaurant When I wasn't feeling Denny's or was crossdressed, I used to roll up in this gay owned gay friendly 24 hour Montrose hangout, enjoy the food and the eclectic crowd that gathered there to boot.
23-Niko Niko's A Greek place in Montrose that also serves dynamite seafood and burgers.
24-Driving to Austin and Dallas The state capital was only a two hour drive away and I enjoyed rolling up state highway 71 and seeing the bluebonnets blooming along the highway. Most of my Texas relatives live in Dallas and we used make that four hour drive up I-45 nearly every summer to see them.
25-The Unity Banquet One of the major events of the Houston transgender community. One of my first community award nominations was for the Dee McKellar in 2001 for what else, the most outspoken person in the community. Lost that one to Kat Rose. ;)
I am a movie junkie. One of my simple pleasures is to roll over to my favorite multiplex, buy myself a large tub of buttered popcorn, sit in the middle of the third of fourth row from the screen and happily munch away while checking out a movie. I attend five to six a year at my local multiplex in addition to my ever growing DVD movie collection.
I love Black cinema. I grew up in a time when I had Black oriented movies pop up briefly during the 70's 'Blaxplotiation' era, then watched them disappear until Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It hit the screens in 1986.
Because of that experience, I have a deep appreciation and desire for seeing my cultural experience and stories realistically portrayed on the silver screen and actors who reflect my ethnic heritage. African-American oriented movies have priority for my movie going dollars and being added to my DVD movie collection. When those movies debut I try to see them on either the first or second weekend of their release.
So TransGriot readers, this is my personal Top 25 favorite Black films of all time and ten that made my Honorable Mention list. I'm going to revisit this topic during the 2008 Oscars and see if my thoughts have changed. Feedback is welcomed as well.
Here's the list (2007 version)
1-Any Oscar Micheaux filmed movie. Without Oscar, there is no Black film industry.
I have an addition I'm not ever going to get treated for.
