I admit I didn’t like Conan at first. When he took over Late Night from David Letterman in ‘93, I didn’t understand why this pale man I never heard of got this show. However, watching his show one night in the summer of ‘97, I finally got it, with the hilarious bits like, ” If They Mated”.  I learned that the sillier and weirder Conan was, the funnier the show was. Now that he’s taken over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno, I still feel the same.

While Letterman perfected weird humor in late night, Conan is bringing it to a younger audience. While Letterman has Stupid Pet Tricks mixed in with biting satire of Dick Cheney, Conan is strictly about the laughs, from ” The Year 3000” to blowing up wax statues of Henry Winkler and Tom Cruise. My mom watches the show with me and often says, ” This show makes no sense. Why can’t he more like Jay Leno?” Because, Mom, Jay Leno wants to please elderly people like you. Conan wants to do a show to please himself. I think that self-deprecating jokes and bits with Slash and Mr.T make for  fine late-night comedy.

I also love Conan’s taste in music. I know he has bands on his show he likes ( for the most part). NBC may force a Lynyrd Skynyrd through, but alternative rock favorites Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Monsters of Folk, and whatever band Jack White is in will always be featured on Conan’s show. Other than Letterman and Colbert, Conan has the best musical guests. I hope that Conan ( and Celebrity Jeopardy champion/sidekick Andy Richter) continue to have a show that mixes the absurd, timely, and just plain funny.

I’ve been on Al Gore’s side since he was cheated in 2000. If he says something is true, I believe it because he believes in something the last “president” didn’t- science. When he said global warming is real, I believed him and bought reusable grocery bags because he had Powerpoint presentations full of scientific facts. In this book, Assault on Reason, Gore says that democracy is crumbling because of lies built on fear. He doesn’t need a Powerpoint presentation to tell me that-the last 8 years is enough proof to know that’s true.

Gore is pretty much telling me what I already know- Bush lied to sell an illegal war.  He used peoples’ genuine fear after 9/11 and manipulated it to start the war in Iraq without a shred of real evidence. The surprises in the book came, however, when Gore notes how much the media helped him sell that lie. It wasn’t just Fox News, either. Because of the belief in TV news that ” if it bleeds, it leads”, reputable TV shows and newspapers helped contribute to the climate of fear after 9/11 that helped Bush sell the Iraq War. Because TV is such a dominant force and where most people get their news, it’s disturbing that a potential war could be treated as a sweeps stunt, like a Dancing With the Stars episode.Of course, science can’t explain everything and fear can be a healthy defense against dangers. However, politicians, news networks, newspapers, and now health insurance companies, shouldn’t prey on peoples’ fears for selfish gains.

 My new guilty pleasure show is Eddie Griffin’s new VH1 reality show, Going For Broke. In the show, Griffin is literally going broke- he spends far more than he makes and the premise of the show is about his economic hardships. No, he’s not applying for food stamps or in line for unemployment like people who have real economic hardships, but his money troubles irritate me more than mine or the average person’s.  I know I shouldn’t care what Lebron or Ladamian do with their millions, but I do. Griffin and many other Black celebrities are blessed with talent and money and they just waste both, especially the money, far too often. By all means, buy your bouncing cars and champagne-but only when you can afford it.

I hope Griffin and other Black celebrities ( I’m singling out Black celebrities because when they lose money, it’s often worse than their White counterparts) have a Suze Orman -like financial advisor who helps them to save and invest wisely. I know Black celebrities often have little experience with windfalls of money, like the Honeymooners episode with Ralph and Alice fighting over money. Ralph said, ” You don’t know how to handle money. Alice responds: ” Of course I don’t. I never had any practice.” However, just reading money management books or asking other financially secure Black celebrities for help can help them keep their pimp cups and velvet posters of Scarface.

I know Eddie Griffin and other Black celebrities want to share the wealth once they make it, but not everyone in your entourage should always have a hand out begging for money. Like he realized in the first episode, if the friends don’t ” bring something to the table” and support themselves, give them tough love and let them fend for themselves. The ” baby mama” drama I won’t get into, but maybe eight kids are enough, Ed. In the second episode, there’s a  potential new baby mama who at least has a real future in biochemistry instead of modeling, but as Griffin’s mother said, she’s a little young.

Griffin’s mother is the voice of reason in the show, the only one who gives him real advice he needs to hear. I hope Griffin listens to his mother more and saves his money, so he’ll have enough for his future and his childrens’ future, too.

I love Lifetime’s preachy, feel-good shows, from Strong Medicine to Any Day Now. You can have your Mad Men, Rescue Me and all your critically acclaimed white-male shows. Give me women hugging and tackling issues. The latest Lifetime drama, Drop Dead Diva, is another feel-good show about a plus-size lawyer, Jane ( Brooke Elliot) who has the ghost of a dead skinny model inside her. Who hasn’t had to deal with that? Despite the crazy premise, this show is a fun guilty pleasure, but also makes me think.

Not since Roseanne have we seen a plus-size woman on TV on a scripted show who isn’t a laughing stock, object of pity, or ignored. Yes, Jane has her insecurities, but she also doesn’t let it get in the way of her career and she even has a social life. The overarching theme of the show is to accept your body the way it is.The guest stars are fun, too. From Rosie O’Donnell to Liza Minelli, if you want to see your favorite actress who’s over 40, chances are she’ll be on this show. Margaret Cho is also a funny sidekick, but my only quibble is I wish she had more lines.

Other than that, though, I finally have a light drama I can watch again. Drop Dead Diva fills the Gilmore Girls void in my TV schedule. It could use more Pixies and coffee references, but it’s still the only female-led dramedy I really like. For women ( and gay men for that matter) who want an alternative to football and the 3 Seth MacFarlane shows on Sundays, watch Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime at 8 Central Time.

I love sitcoms. I watch so much sad news, so sitcoms are the perfect pick-me-up after  hearing about all the murder and mayhem . However, the sitcoms on the air today don’t feature many people who look like me. I love 30 Rock and The Office and I hope they win every Emmy this Sunday, but why hasn’t there been an Black Emmy comedy winner since Jackee? As her character Sandra Clark would say, Honey chile, that’s a problem.

I know Tyler Perry has at least 10 sitcoms on TBS and Michael Strahan has a sitcom on Fox airing soon. I wish them all the best, but I don’t think these sitcoms will be Emmy or even Image Award contenders anytime soon. Where are the shows that are worthy successors to the Cosby Show or Jeffersons? Other than the much-missed Everybody Hates Chris or Steve Harvey, I can’t think of a Black sitcom in recent memory with sharp writing and great acting. I know that sitcoms are a rare breed in reality-show land,  and good sitcoms are not in abundant supply regardless of race. However, I hold out hope that the next Sanford and Son or Living Single will be on my TV or even my computer soon making me think and laugh.

When I read the blurb on the back of this book, I was hooked immediately. Two teenagers, Emily Gold and Chris Harte, had a suicide pact, but only Emily died.  They were supposed to shoot each other, but Chris’s fingerprints are on the gun, and Chris is wounded, but survived. Chris is charged with Emily’s murder and their families are torn apart.

I loved reading about how close the families were. They were next-door neighbors and Emily and Chris seem destined to be together. However, their relationship wasn’t as perfect as everyone thought. Chris was controlling and pressuring Emily to do things she didn’t want to, and Emily had some troubling secrets that she couldn’t deal with and made her depressed. But was she so depressed she wanted Chris to kill her? Or was Chris so violent he shot Emily on his own?

The book goes back and forth between the past and present to piece together the real story between Emily and Chris, which I also love. The mixture of crime drama, mystery, and twisted love story all make The Pact good reading.

These are just some of my favorite songs of summer 2009.

1. ”1901” by Phoenix. This song is so dance-y. The smooth bassline alone from this French “electro-pop” band makes this such a fun, summery song.

2. Any song from Music for Men from the Gossip. From the blues-rock of ” Dimestore Diamond” to the 80’s synthesizers in ” Four Letter Word”, every song on this album sounds fun, even through singer Beth Ditto’s heartbroken lyrics.

3. “Laughing with God” by Regina Spektor. I know a piano-driven song about struggling with your faith in God isn’t the perfect example of a summer song. However, I can’t mindlessly party all summer, and this song makes me cry with its introspective look at dealing with the curveballs God throws our way. I know this song will be used in a Tyler Perry movie somehow, like Joan Osbourne’s ” One of Us”, so look forward to that.

4. ” Heads Will Roll” Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  Okay, back to partying. Who else but Karen O and company can make decapitation on a dance floor sound so appealing? The 80’s synthesizer sound strikes again, but with good results.

It was the best of summers for me ( met cool new people, started to drink more) , and it was the worst of summers ( job insecurity, cool people I met have girlfriends). Through it all,  these songs and music in general kept me sane.

 Yes, Kanye West was a jerk for cutting off Taylor Swift for winning whatever she won a VMA for, but his and Serena’s ( wrong) tirades point out a big problem in our society: the problem with black anger.

Whites tolerated the non-violent protests of Martin Luther King, but were terrified of Huey Newton and his Black Panthers holding rifles. Blacks themselves love feel-good Tyler Perry movies, but won’t see gritty dramas by Lee Daniels ( Monster’s Ball) because Black people are sad and , yes, angry. John McEnroe can yell ” You cannot be serious” and it’s shrugged off as competitiveness, but Serena cursing is threatening a line judge’s life.

Black people have a lot to be angry about. We’re cheated out of important things, from education ,wealth creation,  and decent health care to minor things likes tennis matches and TV awards. Despite that, anger of any color needs to be expressed in productive ways. Take a breath, write, organize protests, but take the anger, regardless of what is the cause behind it, and turn it into something positive.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Oasis since I heard ” Live Forever” on the radio in 1995. I loved the song, but I hated hearing Liam Gallagher, the lead singer, or Noel Gallagher, the guitarist-songwriter, talk. No, I didn’t hate their thick Northern England accents that required subtitles when they were on MTV. It was their horrible choice of words from wishing a rival band would ” catch AIDS and die” to gratuitously describing relationships with girl group members. When I heard about Noel abruptly leaving the band, I thought, ” Here we go again”. But I soon realized that maybe these tantrums and outbursts are not bad behavior, but good PR.

The Gallaghers know that good news doesn’t make the papers and their fights make good copy, so I think this is a brilliant scam to keep Americans interested in the group 15 years after their last hit here. In England, where they’re still popular, this alleged break-up will surely sell more Rupert Murdoch tabloids. It’s like when divas like Cher and Tina Turner swear they’re not touring anymore to sell tickets and generate interest, then they change their minds. Noel’s hissy fit proves he’s the best hetero male drama queen in music today.

Whether the break up is real or not, I still love Oasis’ hard-charging anthems that inspire me to have fun and do what I want to be happy. Their songs were like a dysfunctional musical version of The Secret to me in high school with lyrics like, ” You’ve got to say what you say/Don’t let anybody get in your way”.  With this current ”news”, I’ll crank up What’s the Story ( Morning Glory), drink a White Russian ( or in tribute to them, spill it on someone), and just wait for Noel to come back after this latest greatest PR stunt.

Some people are like Karen O and I love her crazy, roaring energy. But I also love Tracy Chapman’s quiet dignity. Before the school test scandal, Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose wasn’t  known for being the hard-partying, gun-toting, dog-fighting sterotype of an athlete. He had quiet confidence on and off the court. We aren’t all firecrackers exploding in your face. Sometimes we’re simmering candles giving just enough, but not too much, heat.

Shyness is not a disease, no matter what the makers of Paxil say. Asperger’s syndrome is a serious life challenge, but being introverted isn’t. Of course, staying in the house all day and not interacting with people is bad. But having a few close friends and going out occasionally isn’t.

I am quiet. That’s OK. If you cut off your iPod, TV, Blackberry, computer, and just listen sometimes, you’d realize it, too. Enjoy the silence.