Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

2010 UCF Football Schedule Released With 3 Nationally ESPN Televised Games

Filed under: UCF Sports — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 00:10

central_florida.gif  The UCF Knights’ 2010 Football Schedule was released today. 3 games for the Knights will be nationally-televised on ESPN. UCF will play 6 games at home, beginning with September 4th’s season opener against South Dakota. The Knights take-on the ACC’s Wolfpack of NC State at home on September 11th. The Knights beat NC State back in 2008 in an exciting game in Raleigh. Certainly NC State will be looking for revenge when they come to Orlando. UCF also has an away trip planned to Manhattan, Kansas to take-on Kansas State on September 25th. UCF has 3 ESPN televised contests, more than any team in Conference USA. Those games include matchups with UAB, Marshall, and Houston.

2010 UCF football schedule:

DATE OPPONENT TV TIME
Sat. Sept. 4 SOUTH DAKOTA
Sat. Sept. 18 at Buffalo
Wed. Oct. 6 UAB* ESPN 8 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 23 RICE* (HC)
Fri. Nov. 5 at Houston* ESPN2 8 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 20 at Tulane*
Sat. Dec. 4 Conference USA
Championship Game

Friday, March 12, 2010

A Telephone Worth Watching!

Filed under: Popular Music — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 00:30

Just when you thought Lady GaGa’s music videos couldn’t be more strangely entertaining, out comes her latest “Telephone” featuring Beyonce. The video is a hoot! GaGa goes from being a prison diva to a murderous dame who partners with Beyonce to commit a group homocide in a backwoods redneck diner! Along the way, the duo encounter some famous celebs (including Queer Eye‘s Jay and the gang from GaGa’s world tour The Semi-Precious Weapons). The video is directed by famous musical director Jonas Akerlund, who has directed the videographies of Madonna’s past several tours. Take a look at Lady GaGa’s “Telephone” featuring Beyonce:

Monday, March 8, 2010

New Research Shows HIV Lives in Marrow

Filed under: Nursing Science — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 22:39

View Image The Associated Press released a summary of a research article appearing in this week’s Nature Medicine by University of Michigan scientist Dr. Kathleen Collins indicating HIV can lie dormant and become reinfective. This is big news. A few years ago I attended a very informative HIV research conference where a top researcher from Johns Hopkins was studying the life cycle of the HIV retrovirus. At the time, there was hope that if HIV could be suppressed for a 3-month period, the virus could effectively die and theoretically, an infected person might be able to sercovert back to a negative serostatus. However, this new data essentially destroys that theory:

“The virus is dormant in the bone marrow cells,” she said, “but when those progenitor cells develop into blood cells, it can be reactivated and cause renewed infection. The virus kills the new blood cells and then moves on to infect other cells. If we’re ever going to be able to find a way to get rid of the cells, the first step is to understand where a latent infection can continue,” Collins said. This indicates that unless HIV can be killed where it lies dormant, and as these data show, that includes the bone marrow, antiretroviral medications will not be able to fully cure HIV infection.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Madonna has 3rd Highest Take-Home Earnings of Any Entertainer in 2009

Filed under: Popular Music — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:05

Go to fullsize image Billboard reported today that Madonna had the third highest take-home pay of any entertainer in 2009, behind Bruce Springsteen (#2) and U2 (#1). The Material Girl brought home the bacon at a whopping $47, 237, 774! Here’s Billboard‘s report on Madonna’s take-home earnings for 2009: “Like U2, Madonna toured for the first time under a long-term multirights Live Nation deal (hers valued at $120 million), and also like U2 it’s a performance-based pact. Madonna delivered: Her Sticky & Sweet Tour tacked on a “victory lap” run of international stadium dates that solidified the trek as the highest-grossing tour ever by a solo artist! Madonna’s CD sales were well off the pace of her peak hitmaking years, but still more than respectable at physical and digital. Because her songs come from a wide range of writers, the publishing pie is pretty well-sliced. But her branding, licensing and merch efforts are among the most diversified and lucrative in the music business.”

Thursday, February 25, 2010

HSUS Releases Statement About Tragedy at Sea World

Filed under: Animal Welfare — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 01:18

 After the death of a whale trainer at Sea World Orlando Wednesday, The Humane Society of the United States released a statement re-confirming their stance that whales and dolphins should not be confined to show-aquariums and amusement parks. Naomi Rose, Ph.D, and marine mammal scientist with The Humane Society of the United States, made the following statement in response to the death:

“This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the family of the trainer. Tillikum, the SeaWorld orca, has now been involved in the deaths of three people. Using these animals in entertainment is not good for animals or people. Sadly, we’ve seen evidence of that again today. Whales and dolphins are large, intelligent, long-lived, socially complex predators who often hunt cooperatively and are capable of swimming a hundred miles in a day. They are unsuited to permanent confinement, often exhibiting neurotic behaviors in these settings. Capture methods are also inhumane, and often not adequately managed or overseen. ”

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization — backed by 11 million Americans, or one of every 28. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New ERASURE Album Progressing

Filed under: Popular Music — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:26

erasurenightbird.jpg ERASURE’s Andy Bell and Vince Clark are busy working on their new album this week in New York City. Bell met-up with Clark on Monday and the duo have been working hard on writing the new tunes for their forthcoming studio album. The group will be updating their progress on this week’s writing through their Twitter and Facebook accounts. ERASURE’s last release, Light At the End of the World debuted in 2007 and was followed-up by 2 very successful tours, including the True Colors Tour, and The Light At the End of the World Tour. ERASURE does plan to tour to promote the new album, which is expected to be released by the end of 2010.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Could You Turn Off the Phone?

Filed under: Popular Music — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:36

While I am not too familiar with the music of American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, I found this clip to be pretty appropriate and entertaining. Tuesday night, Lambert was performing a set for a radio promotion in NYC and stopped his band to ask a rude cell phone chatter to “hang it up.” Take a look:

Republican Hypocrites Who Deny Stimulus Vigorously Spending Funds

Filed under: Politics — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:30

Sen. Kit Bond  Watchdog group Think Progress released a not-too-surprising yet head-shaking report today. While economist and economic researchers are indicating the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus Bill) has put the American economy back on-track and created millions of jobs, Republican politicians hoping to make strides in November continue to brand the stimulus as wasteful government spending, all the while spending every dime of the money given to their districts. Many of the Republicans have even lied, claiming funds spent didn’t come from the stimulus package. Here’s some highlights from the reports’ findings:

– Top Republican Senate Recruits Are Stimulus Hypocrites: As ThinkProgress reported, Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), a candidate for Senate, touted over $5 million in stimulus programs he voted to kill. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), the GOP nominee for Senate in Illinois, signed a letter urging Gov. Pat Quinn to provide “Recovery Act (ARRA) funding to expand the Illinois Community College Sustainability Network.”– GOP Leadership Leads The Way In Hypocrisy: Although he regularly slams the stimulus as a waste while in DC, McConnell has returned to Kentucky to take credit for stimulus programs, even taking time to request more funds. ThinkProgress attended two job fairs held by Cantor, where we found dozens of employers able to hire directly because of the stimulus. Indeed, even Boehner’s office released a statement boasting that the stimulus will create “much needed jobs.”

– The Audacity Of Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds: Many opponents of the stimulus have been quite brazen with their ability to try to claim credit for the program. For instance, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) spent the morning of July 28th railing against the stimulus, yelling “Where’s the stimulus package? Where’s the jobs?” on the House floor. On the same day of his rant, Kingston’s office sent out multiple press releases bragging that he had secured hundreds of thousands in stimulus funds to hire additional police officers in his district. Other stimulus opponents, like Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) — who has called the stimulus a “trillion dollar debt bill” — have printed out jumbo-sized ceremonial stimulus checks to present to local communities to try to garner positive press.

The report concludes: “Individually, over half of the entire Republican caucus has hailed nearly every aspect of the stimulus as a success — from infrastructure funds, to food programs, to education grants. But politically, admitting its success might harm the GOP’s chances in November. So with Republicans fixated on winning politically, they have focused on deceiving the public by calling the stimulus a failure, while pretending successful programs aren’t stimulus funded.”

While I wish I could say this is surprising, nothing over my lifetime has ever made me expect anything less from the Republican “leadership.”

Friday, February 12, 2010

Annual Blackwell Oscar Party Announced

Filed under: Film and Entertainment — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 03:10
Go to fullsize image  It’s that time of year again my friends! It’s time to walk down the Red Carpet and through the bright lights of Hollywood as the Annual Blackwell Oscar Party again makes its way to the home of Dr. Christopher Blackwell at 7:15pm on Sunday, March 7th! Official invitations to the event have been sent via E-Mail along with voting ballots for the Annual Blackwell Oscar Party Contest, and the list of the Best Films of 2009 according to Blackwell (5. A Single Man; 4. Crazy Heart; 3. Avatar; 2. Up In The Air; 1. Precious; and Best Picture The Cove). It will be a fun evening of food, friends, family, and all-things movies! Make plans to join us for the party of the year! It’s time to rejoice! The Annual Blackwell Oscar Party is here again!!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Phantom of the Opera Tour to Close

Filed under: Performing Arts — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 20:10

The LA Times reported today that the national touring company of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera will close in Los Angeles on Novemember 14, 2010. The tour is currently in Orlando, Florida through February and will give up the ghost in Los Angeles. Organizers announced Friday that “Phantom” will return to L.A. for an engagement at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood that is set to begin Sep. 23. The run will be the last stop on the tour, which is set to close in November. The current tour of “Phantom” began more than 17 years ago and has played more than 7,000 performances in cities across the U.S. The decision to close the tour in L.A. is a symbolic one — the first national tour of “Phantom” kicked off in L.A. in 1989. On Broadway, “Phantom” has been playing at the Majestic Theater since opening in 1988. That production won the Tony Award for best musical that season. A musical sequel, “Love Never Dies,” is set to open in London this month and on Broadway later this year. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote the music for the original “Phantom,” has also penned the sequel.

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