The Urbane Urbanite

My Black Friday was a complete bust. All I bought were some jeans (that weren't on sale), a hoodie and some curtains for my office. Lame. I'm just not a camp-outside-of-Best-Buy-and-Target-to-get-deep-discounted-stuff type of guy.  I almost had to check a few chins up in Kohl's when folks called themselves knocking me over to get to $9.00 griddles and 60% of comforter sets.   I was ready to go home as soon as I got there. But my experience was nothing like this mess: My disdain for Black Friday aside, I do enjoy shopping and have a pretty specific Christmas wish list.  There are plenty of things that I need  want. And I'm not against buying them myself - and I probably will. But just in case Santa and his elves and 'em are taking a lunch break up in the workshop and happen to stumble across my lil' old blog, here are five things I'd like to see up under my tree on Christmas morning:

The holidays are officially upon us. And while many people will get their hands dirty in the kitchen slaving over hot stoves, others may opt to take friends and family out for a nice dinner instead. If you're a food snob like me, you frown at the thought of dinning at a chain restaurant. While I don't have anything against spots like The Cheesecake Factory (that carrot cake cheese cake! *drools*), Chili's (Them lightly salted French fries *licks lips*) or Red Lobster (That there cheddar bay biscuit *faints*) when I want to have a real fine dining experience, those are the last places I want to eat. But not all  chain restaurants are the same. There are some upscale chain eateries that will give you the food and ambiance of a five-star restaurant. Here are my top 6 favorite upscale chain restaurants.

I didn't know what to expect going into the SAG nominating committee screening of Halle Berry's new film Frankie & Alice , a small, independent project that's been in the works for twelve years, shot on a shoestring budget in 25 days (only four months after Berry gave birth) co-produced by Berry and her longtime manager Vince Cirrincione. But I was pleasantly surprised. Frankie & Alice , Berry's first film since starring in 2007's Things We Lost in the Fire , is a psychological drama that chronicles the life of Frankie Murdock, a stripper with a multiple personality disorder. Based on a true story, the film, which takes place in Los Angeles in the 1970's, touches upon motherhood and interracial relationships as they pertain to Frankie's crippling disorder and her haunting past. Berry gives her gutsiest and most unflinching performance to date. And is a gem to watch as Alice, one of the personas she plays who happens to be a racist, white woman. ...

I said I wouldn’t talk about For Colored Girls , the Tyler Perry produced, written and directed big screen adaptation of the iconic 1975 Tony Award nominated play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. I was tired of reading and hearing about the film a week before it opened. The grumblings from die hard Shange fans reverberated throughout the internets – and rightly so. A Hollywood mogul whose films are filled with hackneyed themes and story lines on the Black experience was helming a treasured literary masterpiece written by a Black woman about the Black woman’s experience.   But after watching the film yesterday afternoon – and enjoying it – I had to add my two cents.

I'm a blessed man. I've got my health. My sanity (sometimes). A job. Bills that get paid on time. Goals. Talents that I nurture. A loving family. And loyal friends. But wanna know what trumps all of that?

Photo: S. Fouad Ibrahim Ahmed III is a long way from home. The 26-year-old Newark, NJ based Egyptian artist was born in Kuwait and raised in Bahrain until 1997 after which he moved to Freehold, NJ and became an English major at Rutgers University in Newark in 2003. Ahmed took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to chat with me about how he stumbled into art, the childhood memories that inspire his work and his first solo exhibition In the Shade of Light , which opens on November 20 in Newark. URBANE URBANITE : How did you get into art? IBRAHIM AHMED: While attending Rutgers, I worked at a non-profit organization called the Academy Street Firehouse. The Founder, Dr. Terrence Zealand, wanted to start an art class. I volunteered to help out because up until then I would doodle here and there. While teaching the class, Dr. Zealand took a notice of my drawings and encouraged me to keep drawing on my own time. He did this by giving me my first official sketch book. From there,...