Month: September 2020

V O T E ! The 2020 Presidential Election in Maryland

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Unlike the ballots automatically mailed to most registered voters for the June primary election, voters in the General Presidential Election will have to apply for the mail-in ballot.

Ballot request forms (applications) were mailed to Maryland’s 4 million registered voters from August 24 through the end of August.    The actual requested ballots will not be mailed back to those requesting a ballot until early October.   The State Board of Elections has set a deadline of October 20 to request a mail-in ballot (apply).   Election day, November 3, is the deadline for ballots to be received.

The law has been changed so that in Maryland absentee ballots are the same as mail-in ballots.   Absentee voting is the same as mail-in voting.

Early voting begins Monday, October 26 through Monday, November 2 between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

To get a mail-in ballot

Go to elections.maryland.gov   

Click on the Request a Mail-in Ballot graphic or Mail-in Voting under quick links.   Complete and return one of the forms by U.S. mail today or fax to 410-886-0894 today or email a scanned attachment to the fax number today.  There are English and Spanish versions.

Or Text Message

Text VBM (English) or VPC (Spanish) to 777-88 today.  The election board will text you a link to request your mail-in ballot online.

Or Go to the local Board of Elections

Fill out and turn in the form as soon as possible.   The Baltimore County board of elections is located at 11112 Gilroy Road, Suite 104, Hunt Valley 21031.   Phone 410-887-5700, fax 410-887-0894.

When you receive your form, read the instructions, complete the form, print it, sign it, and return it by U.S. mail or place it in a drop box.  There will be at least 270 ballot drop boxes.

Otherwise, Vote In-Person

Early voting begins Monday, October 26 through Monday, November 2 between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.  At elections.maryland.gov, you will find the locations for approximately 80 voting centers statewide.

General Presidential Election is officially Tuesday, November 3, 2020, same hours as above.

Election Judges Needed

To become a judge, visit baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/elections/ or call the Baltimore County Board of Elections at 410-887-5700 whether you are a state employee, college student, etc.

Source:  Northwest Voice, July/August 2020 (A free publication serving Owings Mills, Pikesville, Randallstown, Reisterstown, Windsor Mill, Woodlawn and Catonsville neighborhoods), P.O. Box 47266, Windsor Mill, MD 21244, Phone:  410-508-1424, Web:  nwvoicenews.com, Email:  info@nwvoicenews.com, Publisher:  Kenneth C. Brown, kennybrown@nwvoicenews.com

Review of book My Love Story by Tina Turner (2018)

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After reading Ms. Turner’s book, I’m reminded of Kelly Clarkson’s song, A Moment Like This.

“Some people wait a lifetime…

some people search forever…

for that one special kiss…

Oh, I can’t believe it’s happening to me…

Could this be the greatest love of all…”

Songwriters:  John Reid/Jorgen Elofsson

Lyrics Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

In her prior book, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Ms. Turner had finally loved herself and her children enough to fight for her freedom from physical and sexual abuse.  She was a young woman when she met the talented Ike Turner, musician who became boss of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue.   But only faith in her God and finally realizing that she did not have to stay in that situation brought her through the abuse, overwork, and lack of money. 

Even her mother helped keep her in the imprisonment because her mother admired Ike and credited Ike with everything positive that occurred.   Women were only a means to an end for Ike so he kept many even in their home.   After a while, Tina was just a meal ticket for Ike.   It’s like a Cinderella story but more like the Grimm version.   Once she escaped, she became a role model to other abused people.  All she kept was her stage name.  Her troubled past is merely a point of reference in this book to compare to her happy future.

My Love Story gives some of the above background for those who don’t already know her story.   But the rest of this book is pure happiness in spite of medical problems in her later life.   This book is written when Ms. Turner is 73, and after she has written other books.   She is still full of life, looks, and love.   It is a love story to her current husband, Erwin Bach, German record executive, and fans like me.   When it comes to love, race nor country matter.   What matters is freedom of choice, respect, individuality, etc.

My Love Story has beautiful color pictures in the inside front and back covers, and in the middle of the book.  Ms. Turner talks of her friendships established with various musicians like David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and other music industry people like Beyonce’. There was even a London musical done about her life which became a Broadway musical.    She has earned twelve Grammy Awards, a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was in a movie role “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”, received a Kennedy Center Honor, and sold more concert tickets than any other solo music performer in history by 2018.   She also continues to get letters from abused people about their situations.  This is a positive book.  You will really get a lift from reading this book.

Written by Rosa L. Griffin

Review of movie Nymphomaniac vol. 1&2 Extended Editor’s Cut (2013)

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This is a very artistic movie by Lars Von Trier.   The movie literally started with a black screen with only the sound of rain hitting metal and opening onto a fully clothed body lying in an alley. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see Stellan Skarsgard as the celibate man Seligman who rescued adult main female lead Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who was left in an alley in the rain after a vicious beating by an old boyfriend.   Seligman listened to her story all night that she narrated from her childhood to adulthood.   Her memories stopped several times so Seligman could comment on her experiences, ask questions, or answer questions.  These were the peaceful, non-violent scenes when his opinions were translated into beautiful cinematography.

Christian Slater was great as Joe’s doctor father who spent a great deal of outdoor time with his daughter when she was little, teaching her about trees (his hobby).   She was also going to school to study medicine later on but gave it up.   Again, peaceful, non-violent times.  However, her mother was there only for a few minutes during the movie and basically disappeared.     

As a young girl Joe requested her first sex with a neighbor Jerome (Shia LaBoeuf), who came back into her life years later as her boss with whom she again had sex and a baby.  

I did not like the idea of Joe (Stacy Martin) and her girlfriend as young unchaperoned teenage girls participating in sex with men.   The girl who had sex with the most men on a train was rewarded with a bag of candy as the prize.  Why she and her girl friend had so much time by themselves was not explained.

As an adult, she also had sex with several strangers as well as K a sadist (Jamie Bell).  Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) was so obsessed with orgasm and physical sex that she damaged her own genitals when she got older from overuse. 

Joe’s character was truly a nymphomaniac who left her toddler alone to go meet her sadist.   The baby would have fallen off their balcony if not for the father coming home just in time.   She ended up giving the baby away.    She was a true nymphomaniac addicted to sex at any cost, not like the movie Diary of a Nymphomaniac that I reviewed in 2017.     

Mrs. H (Uma Thurman) was the screaming wife of one of young Joe’s lovers.  L (Willem Dafoe) was a guy who hired older Joe as a money collector in which she tortured people with their own truths.   There were other great actors playing other parts also like Connie Nielsen, Udo Kier, Caroline Goodall, Cyron Melville, etc.   During the commentary, Stacy Martin (young Joe) said that there were stand-ins for the sex scenes.  

The combined vol. 1 & 2 Extended Editor’s Cut was 5.5 hours long total, and I watched both volumes to see whether Joe would change her behavior or her life, which she did not.   But Joe did survive to the end.   The NC-17-rated movie was violent and graphic.   However, there is an unexpected twist at the end that fades into darkness.  

Written by Rosa L. Griffin