RUPAUL - LOOKING GOOD AND FEELING GORGEOUS

Sup everybody!

Well, yesterday my Real Talk director Ron and I went to do our video interview with Ru Paul (see below), who was in San Francisco promoting his new film "STAR BOOTY" and the accompanying soundtrack of the same name.

Ru Paul is the first drag queen to have his/her own network talk show on VH1, s/he has also been interviewed by Barbara Walters and is the first and only man to secure a major cosmetics contract and was one of the inaugural spokes persons for MAC VIVA GLAM.

Ru paul also has a life sized image of himself in the entrance of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in NYC, standing in a water fountain and a collection of miniature sized Ru Paul dolls designed by Jerry Woo.

The event was held at Medium Rare records in San Francisco's Castro district. For those of you who don't know about Medium Rare Records, it is as small as a shoe box but has one of the most amazing collections of dance, disco, 80's, and old school classics around.


When we arrived the line was already forming. We then got word that Ru Paul's flight was delayed and that we would have to wait another 45 minutes or so. So we hob nobbed with Betty from Betty's List and internationally known photographer Steven Underhill.

When Ru Paul finally arrived, the line was down the street and around the corner. I was prepared to conduct a much longer interview, but out of respect for the beloved fans who waited so long to see Ru Paul, I cut my interview short.

Thank you Ru Paul for being so wonderful and so beautiful and now that we have connected, I am never letting you go!

Enjoy the interview.

WORLD AIDS WEEK OAKLAND 2007

Spoken Word Soul Festival 2007 On Real Talk

Real Talk covered the 2007 Spoken Word "Soul Festival" Panel in Oakland California which was moderated by Weyland Southton and featured some of the Bay Area's and the nation's hottest spoken word, hip hop and neo soul artist, to include Ursula Rucker, Queen Sheba, Ise Lyfe, Greg Bridges, Davy D, and Mystic. The panelist commented on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Jena 6, gentrification, Black leadership and the 2008 elections.

Enjoy.
Joe

BILL T JONES LEGENDARY CHOREOGRAPHER HONORED

I reported earlier that my boy Demarco Majors made the OUT 100. The magazine is in stores now and I just learned from reading rod2.o that internationally renown choreographer Bill T. Jones is recognized for "Lifetime Achievement." This is a very much deserved award for this Tony Award winner. Congratulations Mr. Jones and I hope to meet you really soon.

Joe

MILK - THE HARVEY MILK STORY CASTING YOUNG MEN

A casting company has asked clubrimshot to assist them by outreaching to our list of diverse people to help them fill several roles in the feature film "MILK" starring Sean Penn and directed by Gus Van Zant.

The picture is expected to be a biography of the late, first openly gay San Francisco supervisor. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978 by supervisor Dan White.

There is an open casting call for males age 18-30 on Saturday, December 8th from 10a-4p at the Sanchez School on 325 Sanchez St. in the Castro. A casting call was held previously at the same location but they didn't get enough young people. No telephone calls. You should show up with a head shot and be prepared to audition.

D.C. BLACK AIDS EPIDEMIC AN AMERICAN PLAGUE

My Friends over at GBM News
forwarded this to me to share with my readers.

New HIV Study in Washington DC indicates that more than 80 percent of the 3,269 HIV cases identified between 2001 and 2006 were among black men, women and adolescents.
Get the full story on GBMNews.

Joe

TOKEN WHITE BOY - MY FRIEND TEMPTATION

This Thanksgiving weekend I was surprised to see my old friend, the uber sexy "Temptation" who lives in NYC (originally from Europe) in the house at our ClubRimshot party in Oakland.

"Temptation," (I won't say his real name because he might get mad) showed up ready to party with the bruthas (as per usual) and we all had a ball!

He also came to talk with me about his new line of underwear that he will be launching worngear.com (still under construction) and about working with me on an erotic undergear fashion show featuring some of his designs during Blatino Oasis in Palm Springs, California in May next year.

These pics are all of him modeling some of his designs, but you also have to see the pics of his models (all bruthas) modeling his stuff which will be up on his site soon and they are HOT!

This guy is really a jack of all trades. Besides having his own line of underwear, he used to be a European pop singer, is a stripper/dancer and masseur.

So get ready because I have known this man for a long time and he is about to bring the boiz to Palm Springs to showcase his underwear and they are not playin!

If you guys see him in your travels in NYC, Miami, or the Bay...show him some love.

Great seeing you again "Temptation" and I will talk to you real soon.




You can reach temptation at rimshot4you@yahoo.com.

joe

SINSATION, EGYPT, DEVIOUS and CARLOS SEXY IN OAKLAND THANKSGIVING

What a ball we had with Clubrimshot @ Club Anton over the Thanksgiving Holiday. I have to give props to all of you who packed the place and partied your asses off! I also want to thank our dancers, "Sinsation" from Atlanta, "Eypt" and "Devious" from Los Angeles and "Carlos" from NYC. A special shout out to Rob for turning me on to Sinsation, HOT!

Not only are you all sexy and beautiful but you were all having a ball!

I really enjoyed laughing with you guys and just having fun and watching you all entertain the crowd. You were all AMAZING!

Thank you for helping to make our party a succes!

SEE YOU ALL AT THE NEXT CLUB ANTON
DECEMBER 15th for our Holiday Party!

CHAUNCEY BAILEY KILLED - A REAL TALK REPORT IN HIS HONOR

The Real Talk video report below was conducted at a special memorial service held at the Oakland Museum in honor of journalist Chancey Bailey.

For those of you who don't know, Chauncey Bailey was an Oakland based journalist and community leader who was senselessly gunned down on the streets of Oakland in broad day light in early August of this year. His gunman was pretty quickly apprehended and the murder was apparently committed in retaliation.

Chauncey was killed while working on an expose about a black muslim sect in Oakland. I then began to think about how I am treated when I speak up about how fucked up AIDS services targeting black men who have sex with men are in our county and how people from one agency in particular have attempted to retaliate against me for speaking up about what I know to be true.

I was heartbroken upon hearing the news. I then began to make plans to leave Oakland, the city that I love. I WAS OUT!

Living in Oakland, I have seen so many examples of this type of black on black organizational retaliation against people who tell what's really going on, that I am totally disgusted and was ready to get out of town after receiving the news of Chauncey's death.

I first met Chancey Bailey about 14 years ago when I was publishing the now defunct "Bruthas Magazine." He was always giving me great advice on stories and ideas on how to maintain editorial focus and integrity. Just this year, my show Director Ron and I talked with Chauncey about collaborating on future projects.

It was not to be.

Chauncey was called the hardest working man in journalism. I say that he was the bravest man in journalism. Thanks Chauncey for helping me to see the importance of telling stories that others don't want you to tell and how we can all be fearless when we feel the need to speak truth to problems in our community.

You are missed and like you always would say..Tell It..Tell It...Tell It!

Joe

NIA COLLECTIVE WOMEN MOVING FORWARD

So many people think that just because I do parties that focus on men that I don't work with women. The truth is that most of the projects that I have worked on in my community have been done in partnership with community minded women just like Terry Holloway & Zima Wyatt at the Nia Collective.

Real Talk taped this interview just before the Nia Collectives 20th Anniversary Retreat. Check the video interview below to learn more about this wonderful organization and their empowering legacy for lesbians of African Descent.

Joe

I'M BACK

After a 13 day hiatus, I'm back!

I have been busy 4 real!

I have quite a bit to share so...get ready to drink your next few cuppa Joes!

This is a pic of me just strolling in my neighborhood at Lake Merritt in Oakland.

NIGERIAN AMERICAN MODEL NGO...SIMPLY AMAZING

Click here to learn more about NGO.

Sex Screening WOW

I have produced many events in my life, but the porn screening at the Parkway Theater last Thursday was clearly the most facinating and groundbreaking of them all.


My friend Marvin and I had no idea who the audience would be for this kind of screening. What we got surprised us.

Men, women, black, latino, asian, white, straight, bisexual, gay transgender, young (at least 21 years old was the requirement) and mature came out to the Parkway Theater last Thursday to find out what the hell we were doing. What was this porn screening about?

Although many of the attendees were black gay men, I kind of sensed that most people, particularly black gay, bisexual and definitely straight men might be ashamed or at least embarassed to walk into a theater (that wasn't an adult theater) to see porn. As one person who arrived said a friend told him "If I want to see porn, I will turn on my computer."

But what we all got, was something so unique that putting it into words is difficult.

The screening was a mixture of an amazing poetry reading by Marvin K. White, a video interview with Tiger Tyson taped in France, a discussion with Men's Health Specialist & Sexologist, Numbia Aziz who specializes in holistic sexual fitness for men over 40 years of age and X rated adult sex scenes between men.

My discussion on stage with Numbia pretty much put the screening in perspective and focused on our need for intimacy and how to take care of ourselves while we are experiencing sex and how to minimize the need that some people have to be abused through sex.

I am still sort of in awe of that screening and I am still kind of surprised that it even happened. What a revelation. WOW!

Thank you to Pitbull Productions for the use of their videos, the Parkway Theater, Michael Lee at the Alameda County Office of AIDS who provided us with condoms and lube, and everyone who attended who made this film screening a success. Please see links above if you would like to contact either of my co-presenters for this event.

Thank you also to Oakland, California for being the kind of city where we can push the limits of what's acceptable in order to create a community more accepting of our sexual diversity.

Joe

DIANA ROSS....FLAWLESS

Yes, over the weekend, my home girl, the 63 year old legendary singer Diana Ross, worked her polished performance through Oakland California at the Paramount Theater to a packed house and a gaggle of gays.

But did you notice how little press she got from Bay Area print and televison media? Even the white gay rags,which is all we have here, didn't cover anything about her performing in Oakland. Divas sometimes are literally "Blacked Out" from the mainstream press or the white gay press if they choose Oakland over the, not to be dismissed, San Francisco, as their city of choice to perform. It looks like even the legendary Diana Ross is not immune.

Whatever the case, she still packed the house and still showed everyone how a true Diva does it.

See Keeping It Real Blogger Ron Fulcher's entry about his evening with Diana Ross.

Joe

Will Smith - Why I'm Feeling Him

In late 2005, I met actor Will Smith outside of the building where I use to work in Downtown Oakland, California.

He was working on the film "The Pursuit of Happyness" and I had to coordinate the production company's use of the building that I was the administrator of at the time. Most of the filming took place directly below my office window, so I got to see him working almost everyday for about a week.

One day, our staff was all a buzz about him standing near the rear exit of our building, and although I saw him frequently while they were shooting the film, he just happened to be taking pictures with staff during this particular sighting so I went down to check it out.

When I arrived, he was preparing to leave and I thanked him for making the film, shook his hand and the hand of his son (Jaydon) and he went back to work.

I can't say that I was ever a big fan of Will's music, although I did love "Summertime," and I never watched the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He first got my attention in 6 Degrees of Seperation and he just got better from there.

Will's best actor nomination for the film Pursuit of Happyness was well deserved and touched me more than any of his other films because the story reminded me so much of me and my son, making our way here in the Bay Area, similar to Chris Gardner, the man who's life the story was based on, who I have also met a few times.

With films like Independence Day (with Vivica A. Fox), Men In Black, I Robot, Ali, Shark Tale, Hitched, The Pursuit of Happyness and now I am Legend (see trailer below) due in theaters Friday, December 14, 2007, Will is doing it "Big Willie Style!"

The older he gets, the better he acts and the better looking he gets. Will is working what I call the "Four S" program; Smart, Savvy, Sexy and Silly.

I feel you Will and I love your work and I look forward to meeting you formally soon.

Joe

I am Legend In Theaters Friday, December 14, 2007

Kelly Price Gives A Shout Out

SEE MY FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH KELLY PRICE BELOW!

Davey D Hip Hop Journalist Meets Health And The 50 Million Pound Challenge

It was so cool seeing Davey D again while at the 5o Million Pound Challenge in Oakland a few weeks ago.

I think I first met Hip Hop Journalist Davey D about 10 years ago while I was publishing my now defunct magazine"Bruthas."

I have so much respect for people like Davey D and slain journalist Chauncey Bailey because these are journalist from here in the Bay Area that have also received international and critical acclaim for telling it like it is and presenting the postives as well as the negative aspects of black life and culture here in America and around the world.

Thanks Davey D for keeping it real 4 real!

Joe

SEX ADULT FILM SCREENING AT THE PARKWAY

This Thursday, November 8, I will be presenting an historic film screening at the Parkway Theater in Oakland, California.

No...this won't be a groundbreaking film about the lives of black LGBT people. I do that every year with the Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival. This screening will be about celebrating the very behavior that many institutions, religions, governments and individuals around the world say is wrong, immoral and in some societies, worthy of death; male homosexuality.

From the Middle East to the American Midwest. From the Carribean to New York and even right here in California, sex between men, to so many folks, is immoral and condemned by GOD.

Homosexual behavior, even in 2007, is so negatively viewed, that it causes too many people in America and around the world, to be filled with extreme self loathing and fear. Fear of losing family and friends, fear of losing their jobs, fear of going to hell. It causes homosexual ministers, priest and politicians, to play footsies in airport bathroom stalls and create mysterious and elaborate "hand jive" sign language in an attempt to have their true sexual desires acknowledged and to find an outlet for the sex that they crave (see more in Rod 2.o).

This film screening is a celebration of one of the least popular, yet completely natural sexual behaviors on the planet. Homosexual Sex.

I have enlisted the help of New York City based film Studio, Pitbull Productions, who has provided us with the content for this screening and my friend, award winning author and poet, Marvin K. White to help to present and conceptualize the screening and its purpose.

HIV/AIDS pushed many homosexual men back in the closet for fear that they would contract the disease if they were out. We can now see that whether you are in or out, if you are not self loving and protecting the self that you claim to love, HIV is waiting for the opportunity to live in you.

So I say, fuck people who believe that we should be killed, or legislated to 2nd and 3rd class status because of who we have sex with. Let's put it out there...on a marquee at the Parkway Theater if we have to. Whatever we do, let's not be afraid to celebrate the blessing that is our sexuality.

See you there.

Joe

Demarco Majors Makes List of OUT Top 100

I first introduced former American Basketball Association (ABA) player, Demarco Majors, in a 2005 interview on Keeping It Real Online.TV.

Since then, Demarco and I have become close friends and confidants. My boy is now everywhere! Go into most Wal-Mart stores across America today and you will see his posters in the fitness section. He's been a NY Fashion Week runway darling over the past two years, has worked with Jill Scott and was in Beyonce's music video "FREAKUM DRESS" playing one of the straight boys checking Beyonce out.

Now, Demarco has been selected as one of Out Magazine's Top 100 most inspirational people of 2007! Former NBA Player John Amaechi, and actor Darryl Stephens also made the list.


Keep doin' YOU Demarco and Mark and I will be right here for you!

Love
Joe

Kelly Price at 50 Million Pound Challenge Oaktown

A few weeks ago, Real Talk Producer, Ron Fulcher and I were invited to Dr. Ian's 50 Million Pound Challenge that took place at the beautiful Lake Merritt in Oakland. The event is sponsored by State Farm and featured legendary hip hop artist Slick Rick "The Ruler," Mr. "Vapors" himself, Biz Markie, and R&B Diva, Kelly Price. Now, trying to track Biz Markie down for an interview got to be a bit much because every two seconds he was being called to the stage so...check the video to see what happens while I am interviewing Kelly!

Kelly Price is a wonderful, beautiful person with a very loving spirit and congratulations for losing the weight without losing the curves! Take care Kelly and I will see you again soon.

Joe

Slick Rick "The Ruler" on Real Talk

Ok yaw'll...I must preface this Real Talk interview below, by explaining that the legendary Slick Rick "The Ruler," is one of my favorite Hip Hop artist of all time. The only other interview that I have done that made me as nervous, was when I interviewed L.L. Cool J. When this interview began, we had to do it in three takes, primarily because my black ass was so star struck ( and I don't get star struck easily) with this hip hop icon, that I lost my focus! But he was so very, very cool about it and it looks like everything went off without a hitch...Take 3 (lol).

Also included is footage of Slick Rick performing his classic "Children's Story," Knock em' out the box Rick!

Enjoy!

BARON DAVIS of Oakland's Golden State Warriors

My "Real Talk" show producer Ron Fulcher is an avid baskeball fan and caught up with the dynamic point guard Baron Davis of Oakland's Golden State Warriors at the 50 Million Pound Challenge that took place a few weeks ago at Lake Merritt.

This is one of those interviews that had I done it...I would not have known what to ask him (lol).

Enjoy!