Daily News Feed 3.04.09/Vocab: ellipsis

Usher Blasts Jet-Skiing Chris Brown for “Lack of Remorse”
Usher doesn’t approve of Chris Brown’s jet-skiing. In a video posted by producer Jermaine Dupri, the “Yeah!” singer slams his fellow R&B star for being photographed last weekend joyriding around Diddy’s Miami Beach mansion in what was his first public outing since the incident with Rihanna. “I’m a little disappointed in this photo,” Usher said Monday on Dupri’s online Living the Life series. “After the other photo [of Rihanna's brutalized face]? C’mon, Chris. Have a little bit of remorse, man. The man’s on Jet Skis? Like, just relaxing in Miami?” Brown and Rihanna spent the weekend in Florida apparently working toward a reconciliation. They returned to Los Angeles on Monday in anticipation of the “Gimme That” performer’s tentatively scheduled arraignment on Thursday. Prosecutors are awaiting evidence from the LAPD before deciding to file charges. (Continue Reading…)

Blacks, Whites Hear Obama Differently
On his pre-inaugural visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a landmark for Washington’s African-American community, President Barack Obama was asked by a cashier if he wanted his change back. “Nah, we straight,” Obama replied. The phrase was so subtle some listeners missed it. The reporter on pool duty quoted Obama as saying, “No, we’re straight.” But many other listeners did not miss it. A video of the exchange became an Internet hit, and there was a clear moment of recognition among many blacks, who got a kick out of their Harvard-educated president sounding, as one commenter wrote on a hip-hop site, “mad cool.” (Continue Reading…)

Actress Bassett to Make Directing Debut
As the long-running medical drama “ER” winds down, series regular Angela Bassett is lining up her next gig, one that will take her behind the camera. The actress will make her directorial debut with “United States,” an indie feature she will also produce with her Bassett/Vance Prods. partner and husband, Courtney B. Vance. “States,” based on the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett, is a dramatic comedy about Monk Ellison, a prominent black literary figure who writes a faux autobiography from the perspective of a barely literate hoodlum to decry what is wrong with the glorification of “ghetto” culture. But when the book is lauded as a possible contender for the National Book Award, he must choose between pride and fame. (Continue Reading…)

ellipsis \i-LIP-sis\, noun: