A DAY IN "THE LIFE OF RILEY"

HAVE A (PEPSII) & A SMILE!

One of my favorite moments over this last couple of weeks: At Mo-Bay Uptown Restaurant (WWW.MOBAYUPTOWNNYC.COM). I had a lovely lunch with songstress Cheryl Pepsii Riley (WWW.CHERYLPEPSIIRILEY.COM). One of her reps Terrance Russ brought us namesakes together to compare notes on the respective "...life of (both) Riley(s)..." Cheryl had a lot to tell – including how much she LOVES to host Monday night’s jam session at Village Underground (www.thevillageunderground.com); how she is going back on the road with Tyler Perry’s “Madea’s Happy Family” (www.tylerperry.com/_Plays/); how she sang all of the vocals for Taraji P. Henson’s character in Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” (www.icandobadmovie.com); and how she makes it all work – from being an enterprising and creative singer – of many formats – to being a step-mother; auntee of several almost-grown kids; and a grand-auntee. Though a long time since her debut hit “Thanks For My Child” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICxk7dYYrOs), Cheryl is still quite passionate about the industry and getting her music out there – including recently re-released CD “Let Me Be Me” and single “Come Over”.  My RILEY namesake and I did all of this catching up over tasty Southern Fried Chicken, Deep Fried Catfish, potato salad, rice & peas, mac & cheese, and collard greens. CONGRATS, CHERYL! Hope to see you soon!

ALL-STAR KARAOKE THURSDAY NIGHTS!

So, I will be back in HARLEM on Thursday - hosting NATIVE RESTAURANT's ALL-STAR KARAOKE (9PM - 12 MIDNIGHT). PLEASE COME OUT AND SUPPORT. The ALL-STARS have really come out over these past couple of weeks… and we expect more surprise visits and tie-ins in weeks to come. R&B diva Monifah came by the first week. Her song “Touch It” is in the karaoke book! Gotta love it, right? She knows many of my friends and invited Nichole, Ant, Shareen, Shareen’s Kenny, and me to see her perform at Groove with Toni Menage and Ria. AWESOME SHOW, I might add! These ladies are SANGING, you hear? (We did happy hour at Therapy and Bamboo 52. Thai at Q2 where my best buddies from L.A., Scott and Tony, joined us.) Oh! And when we went to see Monifah and crew perform in The Village the other night, we bumped into Wu Tang Clan's RZA in the parking deck on 3rd Street.  But back to ALL-STAR KARAOKE at NATIVE RESTAURANT in HARLEM, the roster has been impressive – “Black 2 Broadway”s Kevin-Anthony, singer extraordinaire Darius Booker, and “Wendy” art director/cabaret singer Candice Harper. The following week, fan favorite Melonie Daniels brought her amazing vocals (which once backed Mariah Carey) to Lenny Kravitz’s “Get Away”. Also, former “As The World Turns” star Napiera Danielle Groves gave Lauryn Hill a run for her money with “Ex Factor”. And so many friends came out to support: my girlfriend Sidra Smith; performer/director/Tony-nominated choreographer Ken Roberson; my Amazing Grace Nichole, my girlfriend Shareen ("Nate Berkus Show"); a slew of "Wendy" producers; my mentor Darius (CNN); my nephew Herman; my Morehouse BFFs Michael and Khalid; my CAU girlfriend Audra; my former CNBC buddy/author Sana; my friends Rafael, Robert, Murphy, and a host of others whose names I may be forgetting. And the next week, another great group of folks was in the house: NABJ friends - Mara (as in Schiavocampo, NBC Digital Correspondent) and NY Daily News reporter Mike Feeney – brought their singing talents on Beyonce’s “Halo” and MJ’s “Human Nature” – respectively. And my karaoke buddies Javier and Marco brought an array of their great talent – from Freddie Jackson’s “You Are My Lady” to Josh Grobin’s “You Raise Me Up” to some Spanish tunes. And ones to watch: Miss Pernell Walker and Efron! JUST AWESOME on their songs! Such a great group of karaoke supporters and friends came out: my friends Ern, Carl, Saundra, Shantay, Nikoa, Bridgit, Sidra, Tommie, Nicole, Karen, Nathan, Melvin, Mario, Lou, and a host of others. HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN NEXT THURSDAY… and to meet some new talent and supporters of our ALL-STAR KARAOKE at NATIVE Restaurant in HARLEM. You can see more pix here:

PRE-KARAOKE

MEANWHILE, my favorite boutique “N” has asked me to HOST a pre-ALL-STAR-KARAOKE set at its store (next door to “N”) THIS THURSDAY from 7pm – 9pm (www.nharlemnewyork.com/): http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=441208350912&id=114032846688&ref=nf. I’ll be commuting back to NYC from an assignment in Chicago, but hope to meet-and-greet with all of you before ALL-STAR KARAOKE THURSDAY begins at 9pm. LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING ALL OF YOU!

FRIENDS

Ant and I have been spending a lot of time in Harlem lately – perhaps an omen of what is to come: RELOCATION, maybe? Of course, we have spent lots of time with our Sidra. Also, my Mara (and Tommie) invited us over for several impromptu hangs. On night two of ALL-STAR KARAOKE, they hosted a fab dinner party before we all segued to NATIVE RESTAURANT. For LABOR DAY, our Sidra joined us along with buddy Tichina Arnold in tow. Tichina brilliantly sang several a cappella excerpts from her intimate evening of song on which she’s working – including a tribute to MJ (and a song or two in German & Italian). She may pop by ALL-STAR KARAOKE one Thursday really soon! Speaking of MJ,  Ant and I went to a book signing at Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem. Our friend Jason King spoke about and signed his book "Michael Jackson Treasures: Celebrating the King of Pop in Memorabilia and Photos". One of the three novelists of "Visible Lives"s – the E. Lynn Harris-inspired collection - James Earl Hardy, was there with news of great new projects. Stay tuned. And friend Jami Coleman and MJ fan Gadget Trish were also there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6uUIoKYoDw.

“I SLEEP IN JERSEY…”

As my line goes: “I sleep in Jersey. I LIVE in the city.” As a twist of daily tradition would have it, my long-time best bud Carl Nelson drove his bike from Manhattan to New Jersey to see me. And like my childhood days, I was at home, doing my homework, minding my business, and a friend popped over to say “Can Patrick ...come out and play?” LOL! That almost never happens nor has happened in a long time. But I jumped right into my inner-child and joined Carl for a slice of pizza at “Sonny’s Pizzeria” and a scoop of homemade ice cream from “Ice Cream on Grand” – both in Englewood, NJ (near my town).

HOW YOU DOIN’?

Kim Coles has been working the circuit of late. We saw her and hung out with her a couple of weeks ago when she was in town for “The Nate Berkus Show”. Fast forward a couple of weeks later, Kim came back to NYC to tape "The Wendy Williams Show" (www.wendyshow.com). THERE'S MY KIM COLES! I took girlfriend Vilay who is Manivone’s cousin and Ant’s friend from Denver.   And you know, we had a GREAT TIME!   I even took a stab at my own "HOW YOU DOIN?"When she was visiting a couple of months ago, she helped us with the production of our pilot project. Now, she’s been bitten by the bug and has moved to NYC. In addition to Kim Coles being the guest on the show, we got to see Sean Kingston perform. Season 2 for 'Wendy' has started. New set. New energy! How u doin'?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

MY FAVORITE PEOPLE

I want to shout out my girl Ava Duvernay whose MY MIC SOUNDS NICE premiered on BET recently (She also directed the TV ONE ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL special that premiered recently)…

My buddy Maurice Marable’s documentary “THE STORY” recently ran on Sundance channel. It is actually described as the story behind the story. It follows a group of teenagers at GFS in the South Bronx as they make an attempt to make a film, executing every aspect of the production — including shooting on location in Uganda.  It's a simple and heartwarming journey as the kids discover who they are through the challenge of filmmaking.

I got a call from my former L.A. buddy Ed who happened to be in NYC. His professional credits include Nancy Wilson, Miss Ross, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and a host of others. I snatched him up quickly as I LOVE ME SOME ED and he really took care of me while in L.A. on assignment last year! We enjoyed a hearty meal at Silver Spurs in the Village. Afterwards, buddy Theo inspired a karaoke after set at Karaoke Cave near Union Square…

 Had business in Boston over the past weekend. Upon my return, stopped through New Rochelle to hang out with my Amazing Grace Nichole and her FAB, DC-based fam – including her mother (“Honey”, we call her!); her sister Tori; and her niece Day. Our girlfriend Dawn also joined in on the fun. We enjoyed a lovely meal of tacos & fixins (and a brilliantly-interpreted, a capella serenade of jazz standard "I Wish You Love" by MY Honey, quite the singer in her day... and still. BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!). ..

Speaking of New Ro, Michelle Sanchez-Boyce and her husband Nelson had us over for a night-cap at their beautiful home. This time we were on the patio  – seated around an awesome fire & glass (ice) feature. WONDERFUL EVENING!...

I recently saw an episode of "Good Times" featuring legendary 70s actress Judy Pace for the first time since meeting her at NABJ in San Diego. It's the episode when Florida & James go on 20th Anniversary cabin trip (and "Gloria" makes a cameo as she's looking for the moutain home-owner, James' foreman). Judy is also the mother of Julia Pace Mitchell - the new African American actress on "The Young & The Restless" (Met her in San Diego at NABJ). Next stop: Judy's cameo on "Sanford & Son" (and so much more...). YAYYY! CLASIC SITCOMS!

After two Morehouse men (c/o '92) got the opportunity to produce the Opening Plenary for the National Association of Black Journalists' annual Convention in San Diego (Michael K. Watts and me), another of our brethren is easing on down the road to Dr. Oz. Corey Hebert, MD once walked the yard that is Morehouse College alongside Michael and me. Now, the "Doctor for the People", a New Orleans native, is managing a full-time practice, working the medical beat on WDSU-TV (NBC), and now contributing to the nationally syndicated "Dr. Oz" show on Friday, September 10th. (Coincidentally, the first time Dr. Oz and I worked together, we traveled together from New York City to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. There, we searched for dead and decomposing bodies. Also, Dr. Oz worked hard to treat all those he could in what was (and still is) an overwhelming situation. Since that time, I've produced many segments in the field with him and consider him such a joy and a light.). "The Pulse" is a new segment that will feature Dr. Hebert and two other doctors - keeping viewers abreast of the latest and most controversial medical studies (www.doctoroz.com).  CONGRATS, DR. COREY!

In the wake of her personal worries of late, just want to send a SHOUT OUT to her (and her AWESOME manager Brian).  I am rooting her on NOT just for a HIT CD and commercial success, but INNER-PEACE, JOY, LOVE, and HARMONY! Had a chance to meet her last year when I was in L.A. and found her to be a doll. I hope she knows her worth and where she doesn't know it, I hope she has the people around her who help lift her up.

MISS ROSS is preparing to go back on the road for the 2^nd leg of her stateside “MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY” tour. We always welcome a ROSS song… but TV ONE and BET seem to be calling for another ROSS movie as they remind us how brilliant this Oscar-nominated performer is as an actress. TV ONE recently ran a TRIPLE FEATURE: "Mahogany"; "Double Platinum"; and "Out of Darkness". And BET ran "The Wiz" – all the same weekend. It all inspired Ant to start this FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Janet-Jackson-and-Lenny...-Kravitz-in-Mahogany-Remake/143929892313440?ref=sgm 

Working from home office one day - drumming up new business; managing developing business; and - with my peripheral squint - watching my CBS Soaps... off in the distance. “As The World Turns” – which is about to end its 54-year rotation on September 17, 2010 – was on. I was a crying fool on this particular day as everyone has just attended the funeral of matriarch Nancy Hughes – whose portrayer Helen Wagner died in May of this year. One of the flashbacks shows “Nancy” circa 1991, tutoring pre-Fugees Lauryn Hill’s character Kira, who – in this clip – you can see singing at the wedding of my friend Tamara Tunie’s character Jessica who married Duncan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDsCJXe6TsY I told you my late, great mom Queen Riley raised her “boys” to watch the stories. LOL! I’m here crying for people I don’t know, but - after all of these years - feel very much… like family! WILL MISS "AS THE WORLD TURNS", but like REAL-LIFE, all GOOD THINGS must come to an end!