Last night, celebs and those orbiting their stars, were on hand at The Wiltern in Los Angeles for the launch of DJ Hero. Anyone that had difficulty doing the whole pretending to be a rock star thing, can now simulate the skills of DMC Champs like The X-Ecutioners, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, or DJ Octo Arms. ← That’s a made up name, but aspiring turntabalists feel free to thief.

Lee Daniels’ “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” was a surprise winner at this year’s Sundance Film festival, winning both Grand Jury and Audience awards. I posted about this film when it went into production, Lee Daniels Bringing “Push” to the Big Screen That was late 2007, since that time, you may have seen a few trailers for movies with the same title. Dakota Fanning’s new movie is a Push thing. So you’ll understand the new distinction Lee Daniels had to make. This is the movie based on the book..  in which an overweight, illiterate, 16-year-old Harlem girl is impregnated by her father, abused by her mother, is HIV positive, and is just trying to figure out what it all means.

Yesterday as I was writing the Lisa Bonet post, in came the news that Bill Cosby would be on Meet the Press on Sunday morning. Thats a nice one-two combination. Given that he’s been the voice for pulling up your pants and using some good Christian names on birth certificates (haha), Bill (can we call him that) was there to talk about the social impact Barack Obama’s presidency will have in the black community. Well that’s how it was promoted. It was actually a round table discussion with California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, and Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty; and Bill Cosby’s answer to the question was a little more well rounded..

Can’t see his eyes, but you know the smile. Over the holidays, Martin Lawrence stopped in at a listening party for Heavy D’s new album Vibe. It feels wacky to even say that: Heavy D has a new album. The guy that brought us “Overweight Lover”, “Mr. Big Stuff”, and in a small way can claim responsibility for Diddy gravitating to Uptown records, has decided to come back to the music world with a reggae album.

I tried to watch the video for “Long Distance Girlfriend” but it makes me scream Jamerican..

When it rains.. Jada Pinkett-Smith grabs an umbrella. The stars of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa are on an overseas promotional tour. Hitting and running one premiere event to the next. Over the weekend, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett-Smith were snapped in Israel.

Should I count Alex too? ..

Wanda Sykes is gay, married to a woman, and proud of it. Wanda Sykes ‘came out’ at a rally held in Las Vegas on Saturday. Wanda Sykes said she felt personally attacked by the voters who passed Proposition 8 on Nov. 4, which reversed gay marriage in California. Wanda divorced from her husband of seven years in 1998 and married her girlfriend (name unknown) on October 25 of this year. Proposition 8 in the ‘yay’ column effectively invalidates that marriage.

But um, who knew Wanda Sykes was gay..?

This weekend Bernie Mac and Samuel Jackson’s Soul Men will be in theaters. This was Bernie Mac’s last movie. Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t seen any red carpet pictures from a Soul Men premiere. Samuel Jackson hasn’t been on the talk show circuit either. That means one of two things: the movie is terrible or the election drowned it out. If it was the election, why release it on Barack week? Bah, marketing idiots.

Here’s a ‘Red Band’ scene called The Veleveteen Rub.

Common and Maya Angelou stopped for a picture at yesterday’s Benefit for Readers and Writers at The Friars Club in NYC. Whenever I see Maya Angelou, I can’t forget her firm support for Hillary Clinton during the primarys. She was swayed by Hillary’s experience and dedication to the ‘struggle.’ Both arguable points, but who, with a scrap of home training, would get in the face of someone that could easily be their own grandmama? Not to mention Maya Angelou’s earned spot in the cultural lexicon.

Westwood, California was lit by smiling faces yesterday as the stars of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa came out for an afternoon premiere. Being a cartoon flick meant the kids were invited to the party. Chris and the Rockettes posed for a family photo..

how Fergie squeezed in there is anyone’s guess.

Barack Obama raised an incredible $150 million for his campaign in September. That’s a whole lot of $20 and $50 contributions. And even more evidence that ‘change’ isn’t just a slogan, folks really believe if it’s going to happen, Barack Obama needs to get cozy in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next four years. This week Barack Obama will be in Florida for two days to court those all important swing voters. Early voting started this morning and tends to account for 15% of the final result in states that do so. Obama can’t have anyone walk up to a voting booth with half-baked impressions.