For all of those people who were giving the boo boo face side eye to the idea of rocker and eye candy Lenny Kravitz playing Marvin Gaye in an alleged upcoming biopic, this might be good news for you. Kravitz is out, while actor Jesse L. Martin is in.

You’ve seen Martin before. He was the original Tom Collins in the Broadway play and film Rent, and he played Detective Edward Green on Law & Order for nine years, so he’s not a newbie to the big or small screen. Did I mention that he can sing!? According to Deadline, his talent will be shown off in a huge role as he takes over the role of Marvin Gaye in the Julien Temple-directed film, Sexual Healing. Of course, late last year when it was revealed that Kravitz would be taking the role, Gaye’s son, Marvin Gaye III objected greatly to the choice and threatened legal action towards the filmmakers. According to Shadow And Act, Gaye III was upset that Kravitz, a childhood friend, would sign on to do such a film, which he felt was shameful, seeing as how the movie is supposed to cover a very hard time in the legend’s career. According to Deadline, the movie will focus on Gaye’s time in Europe in the early ’80s as he battled his drug addictions and eventually was able to bounce back with his musical career as he made the Midnight Love album. Kravitz seems to have backed out of the project, but it’s not clear if pressure from Gaye III or critics had anything to do with that.

Despite all that drama, the movie is still in the works according to both sources, even with Marvin Gaye III and the Gaye family trying to find a way to stop the movie from being made. But according to Shadow And Act, EMI, who has all the rights to Gaye’s music, gave those working on Temple’s project permission to use his music in his film. With all that out of the way, we’re not sure how the singer’s family could stop the movie from being made at this point, and it sounds like it could be a good one, especially since they’ve got the very talented Jesse L. Martin in the lead role. This guy doesn’t look too far off from Gaye, and he’s very talented, so I’m willing to give it a chance whenever, if ever, it is released to see the light of day.

What do you think of the change-up?

Image: iStockphoto

-Yesterday, we had word about the ways in which banks hadn’t changed their mortgage practices when dealing with homeowners in foreclosure. Now we have the infuriating news that banks are actually making a fortune on mortgages nowadays despite record-low percentage rates. Why? Because the rates could be even lower, but the banks want to drive up profits. The Mortgage Bankers Association argues that banks incur more fees on loans than they did in the past, but less competition and sales of bundled financial products are working in their favor.

-Accessories, and accessory designers, are hot right now.

-New housing units in Washington DC may drive down rent prices in that city. DC will have 6,000 new units by the end of the year. This doesn’t mean that rent will be cheap. The average rent in DC right now is $1,501. The national average is $1,081. The average rent in Atlanta is $868.

-The New York City Mayor’s Office shut down a Trojan event in which free vibrators were being given away from “Pleasure Carts” across Manhattan. “Bloomberg doesn’t want anyone to have fun. You can’t have a giant soda. You can’t have a vibrator,” said one unhappy bar owner, Melody Henry. It’s worth reading the New York Post article about the shutdown if only to see how many awkward plays on words they can get into one small story.

-And in Olympics news,  Allyson Felix took gold in the 200-meter race. American Carmelita Jeter took the bronze. (Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took silver.) Also in track and field, Brittney Reese became the second American woman ever to take the top spot in the long jump and Aries Merritt won the 110-meter hurdles. Finally, the US took gold and silver in women’s beach volleyball. This was the third gold medal for Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, a first for the sport.

By Erica RivaFlowz Buddington

I’ve been there. I’ve walked through my suburban town agitated by it’s smallness and thought, “I need to get the heck up out of here.” Sidney Shaw taunted me with her brownstone in “Brown Sugar” and the depiction of rain and passion mixed in Chicago’s urban terrain had me yearning to get my “Love Jones” on.  Tapas bars, jazz clubs, underground hip-hop shows, networking, after work mixers; I knew there was a wanna-be-socialite heaven in one of United States’ big cities waiting for me.

I was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I wasn’t raised there. I was uprooted at nine for a chance at better schools. My family and I moved to Long Island, NYC’s suburban area. Immersed in small town gossip and quiet, I yearned for the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Two nights ago, I finally moved back. After tenure at a college in silent Virginia and a bout back home with the parental units, I finally have something within New York City to call my own.

While flipping through the blogs of friends of friends, I’ve noticed a common yearning amongst us. It seems I’m not the only one who wants bright lights, skyscrapers and the metro. I witnessed a multitude of womanly words yearning for their day in Atlanta, Houston, L.A., Chi-town and many other resemblances of the big city. So here’s how:

1. You should start saving. Some people have this illusion that the minute you step on the pavement of the big city, fame and fortune will come to you and record labels, publishers or their new corporate job will take care of the rest. Nope, not at all. Create a budget projecting how much you’ll need to spend each month, make each month and save each month. Start off with a savings of about $3,000-5,000; this will help when fending off rental broker fees, hunger pains and tips for overeager food deliverymen.

2. You’ll need a secured gig. This economy is no joke and even if we were still in the Clinton era, you’d still need a job the minute you get here. Unless you have family/friends that are willing to let you sleep on their couch or in the guest bedroom; don’t speed here to start looking for a job the next morning. Even with a start off fund, you’ll need a gig to keep your head above water. Shoot freelance queries to blogs/publications for some extra side money, apply for certification if you’re taking the substitute/teacher route, find internships and/or find something that’ll keep the lights on until you’re discovered.

3. Don’t wait to be discovered. While keeping the lights on, make serious connections. There are plenty of conferences, events, rare bookstores, open mic spots and more in metropolitan areas. Your kind dwells here. Just look for someone with your attire, a Starbucks cup in hand and goals written all over their face. Networking and surrounding yourself with positive ambition oriented persons is the one of the fastest routes to the top.

4. Pick your borough. I have a friend from Iowa who loves Fat Joe and decided, from a few rap lyrics, she was going to move to the Bronx, New York for her big move. The problem is, she works in Queens. Regretfully, she does a 2-4 hour commute back and forth to work everyday. Use Google maps to find the distance from your desired borough, check out the train/car routes to get there and make sure it’s conducive to your agenda. Come visit before you sign any leases or make any promises! Make sure the spot you’ve chosen is right for you.

5. Go get your spot. Ha! Rentals in big cities can go anywhere from $1,500 to a cool hundred grand. I don’t think so. Unless you’ve got some secret trust fund or just won the lotto, I’ve got some other suggestions for you. Search Craigslist or other real estate related websites for sweet deals. You can rent anything, from a $1,500 cute studio, to a $1,200 ground floor of a two-family residence. Make sure you can envision your writing, painting, planning, meditation etc. area before you say, “I’ll take it!”

(Daily Finance) — Numbers can drive you nuts. Some folks don’t like the digits that reveal their ages, others get frustrated by the ones that make up their bank balances. Some parents can’t figure out the “new math,” and some of us are still a little shaky on the old math. But one number nearly everyone would agree they’d like to raise is their credit score.  In these times when credit is still tight, money is short, and jobs are hard to come by, the benchmark of your credit score carries more weight than ever.  In a sense, your credit score is a crystal ball that’s meant to reveal your character, and building a credit history is key to making that picture clear. Traditionally, that meant taking on debt that you could then pay off, like a mortgage, car loan or credit cards. But in terms of your credit history, paying your rent on time meant nothing.

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Unless you’re clocking major figures straight out of college (or your parents are), or have been saving your milk money, allowance and birthday monies since you were a kid, chances are, as a young adult, you’re not lucky enough to be living alone. Don’t get me wrong, you’re still a big girl, and an independent one, but everybody’s got to start somewhere. But doesn’t it seem like living with people is getting harder than ever? I’ve lived with a young woman with no job and nothing better to do with her time, who failed to reveal to me when I moved in that she was married–and her husband would be living with us. And in college I had a roommate who wanted the lights out, T.V. off and everything, by 11 p.m., as well as a roommate who didn’t know what mold was and why it showing up in her dirty glasses. And that’s just a few roommates from hell. But not every house, condo, duplex or apartment co-occupant has to be the bane of your existence, and you definitely shouldn’t move into each living scenario with a negative mindset. As leases end and begin this summer and folks start subleasing, here are a few tips to making the best of out your living situation from the start, so you can make it to the finish.

A recent report by Deutsche bank shows that in many cities, it’s actually cheaper to buy a home than rent one. It certainly signals a change in times, especially for residents of the following 10 cities. According to the banks’ research, renting will cost you more in these locales as opposed to buying. So if the price is right, it makes a lot of sense to start investing again in home ownership.

10. Memphis, TN

4 br home selling for $147,900

Renting costs 21.9% more than buying (based on after tax mortgage payment)

Median home price decline, 2006-2010: -15.5%

9. Buffalo, NY

Renting costs 22% more than buying
Median home price change, 2006-2010: 23.8%

A recent report by Deutsche bank shows that in many cities, it’s actually cheaper to buy a home than rent one. It certainly signals a change in times, especially for residents of the following 10 cities. According to the banks’ research, renting will cost you more in these locales as opposed to buying. So if the price is right, it makes a lot of sense to start investing again in home ownership.

10. Memphis, TN

4 br home selling for $147,900

Renting costs 21.9% more than buying (based on after tax mortgage payment)

Median home price decline, 2006-2010: -15.5%

9. Buffalo, NY

Renting costs 22% more than buying
Median home price change, 2006-2010: 23.8%