PARRISH: The Thoughts

And...that's a wrap.

2007-12-31T18:04:00.000-06:00

That's right folks, another year down the tubes.

2008 beckons, a year so big it warranted an extra day (LEAP YEAR BABIES STAND UP)

As for me...this year has, in fact, been better than last year.

Not blogging wise, but trust me, it hasn't been a bad year at all.

I am positioning myself, slowly but surely, for my break out year.

2007 wasn't it.

Not that I thought it would be. But I am making a few changes.

Including with this here blog.

I am resolving to be a better blogger, just not on this particular blog.

Follow the yellow brick road

Comics

2007-11-14T10:07:00.001-06:00

Since I'm laid up at home with the flu today (and DP's on a bit of a hiatus), here's some comics:

Solidarity By Line
Branding
Rage Against The Machine
Support The Troops
Baby Boom
QxR
Alienable Rights
Homeland Security
Vlad The Impaler
Jenna Deep 6
Jena 666
Die Bold
GOP Lockstep
Democrat or Republican
Quintessentially American
Enhanced Techniques
Plenary Indulgence
Bush-League...
...Clinton-Fatigue
ADM Windfall

And my favorite for today: Kuku

A Tale of Two ATLiens

2007-10-15T09:19:00.000-05:00

It was the best of times; It was the worst of times

For two Atlanta residents, this weekend was a time of highs and lows.

Clifford Harris (known as T.I outside of this blog) caught a most unfortunate case on Saturday. One invlolving Machine guns, silencers, and a mouthy bodyguard who clearly doesnt adhere to the mantras of his employer's music. This hours before he was supposed to be the headliner on the BET HipHop Awards.

Tyler Perry has done it again. You can say what you want about the quality of his movies, but film is an acquired taste. People are allowed to like what they like. But as that noted urban philospopher Shawn Carter said:

Men lie, Women lie, Numbers don't.

Three days into release and Mr. Perry has already broken even. Now, if only I can stop this dude from whining and bitching about the Wins he is piling up.

Now back to Clifford.

Naw, I can't even do it. It's not worth it.

There is no point in me mourning a man's life when clearly HE would rather throw it away in a pile of ammunition and guns. So...more on that as that situation becomes gradually more and more pathetic.

Give a cracka a rope, or An ode to Jameil

2007-10-10T22:45:00.001-05:00

Jameil has hit a homer this time.

I don't know that I have ever linked to a post from my favorite Pittsburgh News Diva/Hampton Graduate/Panthers' Fan/most consistent commenter on this blog, but she did the fool this time.

I don't tell her this, cause her head is quite big enough, but I will always be indebted to her for choosing my hometown to ply her craft.

Pittsburgh is NOT an easy place to be young, Black, female, and fabulous but she does it, and does it without talking too bad about my hometown.

I could speak on this in detail, but I would rather let her words speak instead.

allow me to examine the history of nooses a bit further. Back when
black people were forced into subservience, i.e. slavery and it's by
product, Jim Crow, nooses were as symbolic as burning crosses and
confederate flags. When you saw these, often coupled with a band of
sheet-covered men and boys, you knew they were a warning of what you
could face should you choose to continue to get out of line; doing
crazy things like trying to register people to vote or de-segregate
schools. Grown men were yanked from their beds or off of their porches
and strung up from trees in front of their families to hang until their
deaths. And this is the time you'd like to hearken? I'll pass.

Allow me to add on, though...

Some folk have suggested that this calls for a return to the civil rights movement.

Um...this is the FALLOUT from even the perception to a return to the civil rights movement.

White folk have been OFF THE CHAIN this year.

From "Nappy Headed Hoes", to "MFer, I want more Iced Tea", White folk have shown their ass, the nooses are only the ongoing cheers from the peanut gallery.

This is going to get worse before it gets better...button your chinstraps.

And if you STILL think it's funny:

I give you this:

Without Sanctuary
Powered by ScribeFire.

Tip: never let a man's head get between you and your desire to eat

2007-10-08T08:56:00.000-05:00

Everyone has an angle. Travis Johnson's angle revolves around his livelihood. I really hope this story doesn't extend too far.

And someone teach Mr. Green how to block, please?

Fred Barnes says Just because you are Right...you can still be stupid

2007-10-08T08:51:00.001-05:00

Media Matters - Barnes: Obama not "strong on national security" because he opposed war "when the entire world believed" Saddam had WMD

What part of the game is it when you can be right and still be stupid?

The Bizarro World is REAL, boys and girls

You know, I've thought for a long time that Obama's not in quite as strong a position on the war in Iraq as he really thinks he is. Remember, when he famously came out against the war, it was back in a time when the entire world believed that Saddam Hussein in Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that he would probably be willing to use them himself at some time or pass them along to terrorists who would use them. And yet, Barack Obama was against going to the war at that point. I don't think that shows that he is very strong on national security, which he needs to be.

FINALLY...

2007-10-01T21:02:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, Set your Tivos and DVR's and for the love of GOD, PUT YOUR BABIES TO BED!

Monday, October 8, 11:30pm ET/10:30 CT.

The Boondocks SEASON TWO!

Oh don't front. In case you need reminding:

----------------

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger, Hater of the Millenium

2007-09-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

Stuff like this is what makes it so embarrassing to be an American. We blather ON and ON about Freedom of speech and the Land of the free and the home of the brave.

We have a president hell-bent (almost literally) on bringing democracy (his kind, not yours) to the world.

But if you are GOING to have a shmuck like this dude speaking at your school. You give him the respect you afford a Head of state and then let HIM make a fool of himself.

someone wise once said you don't argue with a fool, because at a distance no one can tell who is who.

Yeah, I wore Black...but why does it feel like I've been here before?

2007-09-20T14:45:00.000-05:00

About every 9-12 years we go through this moment where we act like we really wanna pull together and bring back the movement. We get sick and tired of being sick and tired. We will trudge through a regime that doesnt feel especially engaged to our issues so we get out in the streets and handle business for ourselves. We will accomplish something significant and a head or two will roll and the winds of change blow enough to make us feel more comfortable about our overall situation.

Then we Gloat.

We'll kick around some medallions and kente cloth...
or some new saying...
or some new fashion statement...

and ride that until the novelty wears off;

This all takes about 3-4 years. and Then we'll go back to our regularly scheduled programming.

We skip an election or two...get especially materialistic and self-absorbed...and the Ls start to pile up. Before you know it...We angry again.

Lather
Rinse
Repeat

follow the trend.

1968 marks the defacto end of the movement with King's death and the undoing of the Black Panthers.

1977 you have Roots and The re-rise of Black folk claiming their African Roots

1985 marks the quest for the King Holiday

1995 marks the Million-Man March

2007 you have the Jena 6

With each movement, you'll have this underlying sentiment/hope that the movement is BACK and that we will rise and return to being the activist engaged people we once were.

Then we kinda go back to what we were doing and life goes on, such as it is.

Sigh...My black doesnt feel so...Black anymore.

NFL Week Two Fearless Predictions

2007-09-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

Buffalo at Pittsburgh 1:00 PM

Kevin Everett is getting better everyday. The Buffalo Bills aren't improving as dramatically, though. The Steelers are. Beware of the ugly jerseys the Steelers are wearing on Sunday, though. They are HORRIBLE.

Buffalo 13
Pittsburgh 27

Houston at Carolina 1:00 PM

We will see how good Matt Schaub is this week. My sense is that he will wish he was still holding the ClipBoard in Atlanta. The Panthers may be tired of underachieving.

Houston 10
Carolina 27

Atlanta at Jacksonville 1:00 PM

Maybe Arthur Blank will bump into Byron Leftwich down in Jacksonville. That is about the best that can be hoped for this week.

Atlanta 3
Jacksonville 20

New Orleans at Tampa Bay 1:00 PM

New Orleans had plenty of time to marinate on the thrashing they received at the hands of the Colts. That can't bode well for the Bucs.

New Orleans 31
Tampa Bay 17

Green Bay at NY Giants 1:00 PM

Brett Favre must be licking his chops. I figure Favre will find a way to look just good enough to give Cheeseheads irrational expectations.

Green Bay 24
NY Giants 17

San Francisco at St. Louis 1:00 PM

This is the Niners' big chance to make the next step. Considering I was deep in REM by the time that game was over, I can't say for sure if they are ready. I'll guess not.

San Francisco 17
St Louis 20

Cincinnati at Cleveland 1:00 PM

Cleveland will play better than they did on Sunday. Cincinnati will not. But they will still win, because, well, its Cleveland.

Cincinnati 28
Cleveland 20

Indianapolis at Tennessee 1:00 PM

Vince Young will find a way to keep this close. I cannot imagine they will win, but it wouldn't surprise me. No, it would. I just need fewer Peyton Manning commercials, though.

Indianapolis 31
Tennessee 20

Minnesota at Detroit 4:05 PM

Detroit's annual claim for respectability reaches a pivotal game already. If the Lions have ANY intentions on being something other than wack, they have to win home division games. And I think they won't, because they are the Lions.

Minnesota 17
Detroit 13

Dallas at Miami 4:05 PM

Dallas has Super Bowl aspirations. I recommend a reality check for any team that gives up 35 points to the Giants. Miami is much better than the Giants, which isnt saying a whole lot. This is Trent Green's chance to show us that he doesn't still think he is in Kansas City.

Dallas 24
Miami 20

Seattle at Arizona 4:05 PM

Arizona cannot afford to lose another division game if they want to continue to be the sexy pick for the NFC West. Charlie Frye is just glad to be out of Cleveland.

Seattle 30
Arizona 27

NY Jets at Baltimore 4:15 PM

Kellen Clemens picked the WRONG week to make his first NFL start. Mr. Lewis, Mr. Scott, please be gentle.

NY Jets 6
Baltimore 23

Oakland at Denver 4:15 PM

The JaMarcus Russell era begins with Daunte Culpepper making his first start as a Raider. Jay Cutler isn't ready, especially on the road. But it's hard to imagine Oakland beating Denver in Denver.

Oakland 16
Denver 24

Kansas City at Chicago 4:15 PM

I smell a shutout.

Kansas City 0
Chicago 20

San Diego at New England 8:15 PM
The Patriots have a WHOLE lot on their plate this week. And that has nothing to do with the fact that the Chargers are coming to Foxboro bent on revenge.

San Diego 20
New England 24

MON, SEP 17 TIME (ET)
Washington at Philadelphia 8:30 PM

Is it me, or are the plush environs of Lincoln Financial Field making the Eagles fans soft? I don't think they would even boo Santa Claus now. If the Eagles can avoid dropping punts, they should handle this game ok.

Washington 17
Philadelphia 27

Govern yourselves accordingly.

Real Talk

2007-09-13T10:32:00.000-05:00

Seven Days.

That's how long it has been since the last time I posted on this blog. I would like to say I am embarrassed about it, But alas...*shrug*

I woke up this morning and realized I forgot how to blog. Worse than that...I forgot how to write.

I have made this way too hard.

Standing here Strangling the bat like an angry abusive husband with more vodka than sense, but too busy looking around the stadium to actually swing the bat.

Its not like I started this yesterday.

I have been blogging off and on since November of 2000.

I am going to send myself back to the minors and start over. Clearly, what I thought came naturally doesn't all of a sudden. Sooooo....y'all have a good day while I let this bizarre feeling marinate.

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Now playing: Robin Thicke - Everything I Can't Have
via FoxyTunes

NFL Week One Fearless Predictions

2007-09-06T12:29:00.001-05:00

NFL Week One Fearless Predictions

for the first two weeks I will be cross posting this post here and over at Three Yards

The football blog has suffered from ignorance and stupidity on the field and off...its FOOTBALL time now, though.

So...With all that foolishness out of the way, We NOW begin FOOTBALL season.

THU, SEP 6
New Orleans at Indianapolis 8:30 PM
This will be a shootout. Expect lots of effusive praise from John Madden for both Quarterbacks and one wow moment from Reggie Bush. Viniateri wins it at the end, though

New Orleans 35
Indianapolis 38

SUN, SEP 9
Philadelphia at Green Bay 1:00 PM
Donovan McNabb has been better than Brett Favre for almost 5 years now. The Eagles have been better than the Packers for about that longas well.

Philadelphia 27
Green Bay 17

Kansas City at Houston 1:00 PM
Chiefs GM Carl Peterson should have the Agent for Byron Leftwich on the phone by Monday.

Kansas City 10
Houston 20

Denver at Buffalo 1:00 PM
You heard it here first. Denver isn't NEARLY as good as people think, especially outside of the Mountain Time Zone. Buffalo will be much harder to beat at home than they will be on the road.

Denver 17
Buffalo 24

Pittsburgh at Cleveland 1:00 PM
Cleveland Browns fans THINK they want Brady Quinn out there. Of course if they REALLY knew football, they wouldn't still be Browns fans. The Browns are better, but not better enough to save Romeo Crennel's Job. Boy, are they going to miss that top 10 pick they gave Dallas next year.

Pittsburgh 30
Cleveland 17

Carolina at St. Louis 1:00 PM
The Countdown until David Carr/Bill Cowher PLEASE save us begins.

Carolina 16
St. Louis 31

Atlanta at Minnesota 1:00 PM

The real question...Will Minnesota score more points or will there be more Michael Vick references by the Play by Play commentary.

Atlanta 17
Minnesota 10
Michael Vick References 35

PS: Someone alert the Miami Dolphins...Michael Vick references WILL go undefeated this season.

New England at NY Jets 1:00 PM
America's favorite baby daddy has been given better receivers for a baby shower present. NY Jets fans will recieve another bag of rocks. It will be close and ugly...and no matter what happens, it wont be Bill Belichick's fault.

New England 27
NY Jets 24

Miami at Washington 1:00 PM
Miami will WISH they still had Daunte Culpepper long before Daunte wishes he was still in Miami. Washington will beat up on Miami and then the fans will be CONVINCED this year is the year. Nope, not this year either, folks.

Miami 7
Washington 23

Tennessee at Jacksonville 1:00 PM
Is Vince Young going to be better this year? Yes
Will Jacksonville wish they had kept Byron Leftwich? Yes
Next year, Quinn Gray will be the starting QB for the Jacksonville Jaguars...and there will be a white rookie for Jag fans to clamor for.

Tennessee 20
Jacksonville 13

Chicago at San Diego 4:15 PM
Nope, Rex Grossman STILL isn't very good against good teams.
Yup, LT is the most dominant offensive player in the league.

Chicago 21
San Diego 27

Tampa Bay at Seattle 4:15 PM
Jon Gruden isn't nearly the genius we thought now that Tony Dungy's Super Bowl team has crumbled around him. Jeff Garcia is going to wish he was still waiting for Donovan McNabb to get hurt in Philadelphia by the end of September. I wonder if people who gamble are familiar with how difficult it is for Eastern teams to win in Seattle?

Tampa Bay 10
Seattle 30

Detroit at Oakland 4:15 PM

If Daunte Culpepper plays a lot, the Raiders will win. Apparently he won't. But the Raiders will find a way. The Lions are FINALLY better...just not better enough.

Detroit 13
Oakland 17

NY Giants at Dallas 8:15 PM

OHHHHH are the Giants bad. But they can keep themselves warm burning copies of Tiki Barber's book while pondering what to do with that sure top 10 draft pick. Dallas will be firing up their bandwagon about halftime. With the price of gas being what it is, and the fact that Troy Aikman was in his PRIME the last time the Cowboys won a playoff game, you would think that Cowboy fans would want to wait a lil while before jingling the keys to the Super Bowl Express.

Dallas 35
NY Giants 10

MON, SEP 10 TIME (ET)
Baltimore at Cincinnati 7:00 PM

This is it...This year has GOT to be the year for Baltimore. Time is running out. A good performance by the Ravens in Cincinnati will not be a good sign for Steeler and Bengal fans. It is a near certainty that no Bengal player will be arrested DURING the game on Monday Night.

Baltimore 27
Cincinnati 23

Arizona at San Francisco 10:15 PM

If you live on the East Coast, you'll be asleep by the time this game is over so I will tell you how it ends.

Arizona is still Arizona, they just have better players. San Francisco is crawling out of the doldrums one step at a time. how far they get out of the doldrums this year is not immediately certain.

Arizona 20
San Francisco 31

everytime you see a sports fan wave a towel in the air...remember where it all started.

FOR ONCE...i agree with BET

2007-09-05T13:13:00.000-05:00

part 2

Tony Harris is completely clueless.
I would fire any man who went into a piece on Live Television THIS ill prepared. How can you do a piece on this and NOT know what is played on BET at 4 and 5 in the afternoon???

Paul Porter is slightly less clueless.

Satire is defined holding up human vices to ridicule and scorn. This is a textbook definition of that.

12 year olds are FULLY capable of deciphering satire, and if they cannot, their parents HOPEFULLY can.

Although judging from the parents in the piece, that may be too optimistic on my part.

Ill be the first to suggest that the animation was a tad bit hamfisted, but then again, its hard to satire something that comes off as almost satirical.

Tony Harris should be ashamed. He clearly doesn't know how out of touch he is right now.

and in case you haven't seen this...here ya go:

In All Things Moderation?

2007-09-02T08:15:00.000-05:00

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

James 1:5-8

One thing that I find to be utterly amazing is the phenomenon known as "the bandwagon" - whatever's hot or happening right now is what masses of people flock to, be it the newest trend or the hottest sports team. Whoever's on top at that moment gets all of the accolades - from Lena Horne to Jayne Kennedy to Vanessa Williams to Halle Berry - even though they're the same person at 60 that they were at 50 or 40 or 30. This year everyone is riding for the Indianapolis Colts when last year it was the Steelers and the year before that it was the Patriots - whoever is the dominant team or figure of the day gets all of the props, yet the Pittsburgh Steelers are always the Steelers, the Colts are always the Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots are always the New England Patriots, and the Lions, unfortunately, are always the Detroit Lions. There is no loyalty anymore, no conviction that I will ride or die with my team, that I am a fan of this or that actor or actress, or that I am a child of the living King. Too often we who are called by the name of Christ are as double-minded as the most fickle sports fan or trend-following entertainment junkie. We like Jesus and all, but if the party's over there then all too often we can be found right where the party's at, Jesus or no Jesus. We're sometimey with our relationship with our Savior, the One who bled and died for us, the One who made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. We try to get full-time blessings out of a part-time relationship with the Creator of the universe - as if God could be pimped.

It's because we're scared.

Within American culture one of the worst things that you can be called is an "extremist." Think about it - when is the last time that you've heard the term "extremist" used to compliment someone? Yet anyone who takes an uncompromising stand on any issue is, by definition, an extremist. Most of us are extremists when it comes to breathing - we are extremely Pro Breathing. That seems silly, of course, because you have to breathe in order to remain in the land of the living, as Lavel Crawford reminded the world on Last Comic Standing. Is it not just as silly that we would waver in our commitment to the Way, the Truth, and the Life - the only way to the Father and eternal life? Certainly there are those who will say that they can only take religion in small doses - indeed, in moderation - and with that I can agree: religion will send you straight to Hell. I'm talking about a personal relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ. In that day religious folk will hear Jesus say, "I never knew you" while the redeemed of the Lord will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"

It's time for us to grow up, dining on the meatier matters instead of constantly having to be fed spiritual Similac. We need to be so solid in our walk with Jesus Christ that we can feed others, helping them to stand firm in their walk with Jesus Christ, but too often we find ourselves siding with the world against the cause of Christ - the jokes we laugh at, the gossip we call up, the mess that we deal in betrays our distance from the One who truly loves us, the One who is faithful even when we are faithless. We may not say the words "Forget Jesus!" but we nonetheless deny Him before men through our actions. "Would a child of the King say that?" "Would a child of the King do that?" "Would a child of the King act like that?" We need the courage to stand upon our convictions. We need wisdom to stick with God in each and every environment that we find ourselves in. We need to let our light so shine that people will see our good works and give God the glory, acknowledging Him as creator and accepting His Son as savior.

Who you with?

May the LORD bless you and keep you;
May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who calls us to be extreme in our faithfulness,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.

In Praise of college football chaos: Appalachian St 34, Michigan 32

2007-09-01T18:30:00.000-05:00

Long ago, I gave up on sanity in college football. I don't have a real team that I root for, so I root for chaos.

I root for EVERYONE to lose at least once.

If there is an underdog, I am rooting for them.

This was the biggest upset since David caught Goliath between the eyes.

And I LOVED it.

Even though I know how it is going to end...I cannot wait to watch this game from beginning to end.

Big Blue Fans...stay off the bridge, it's just a game.

Things White folk say: The Police version.

2007-08-30T23:41:00.000-05:00

Lost in the unintentional comedy that is the Larry Craig Transcript is a troubling piece of dialogue.

Not from Larry Craig...but from the Police officer.

DK: I know you're not going to fight me. But that's not the point. I would respect you and I still respect you. I don't disrespect you but I'm disrespected right now and I'm not tying to act like I have all kinds of power or anything, but you're sitting here lying to a police officer.

DK: It's not a (inaudible) I'm getting from somebody else. I'm (inaudible)

LC: (inaudible) (Talking over each other)

DK: I am trained in this and I know what I am doing. And I say you put your hand under there and you're going to sit there and...

LC: I admit I put my hand down.

DK: You put your hand and rubbed it on the bottom of the stall with your left hand.

LC: No. Wait a moment.

DK: And I, I'm not dumb, you can say I don't recall...

LC: If I had turned sideways, that was the only way I could get my left hand over there.

DK: it's not that hard for me to reach. (inaudible) it's not that hard. I see it happen everyday out here now.

LC: (inaudible) you do. All right.

DK: I just, I just, I guess, I guess I'm gonna say I'm just disappointed in you sir. I'm just really am. I expect this from the guy that we get out of the hood. I mean, people vote for you.

LC: Yes, they do. (inaudible)

DK: unbelievable, unbelievable.

WTF is THAT about?????

The link between Larry Craig and Mark Foley...stronger than you think

2007-08-29T13:03:00.000-05:00

Say it with me....slowly and with feeling...

WoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooW.

What Michael Vick did to you is exactly what you deserve

2007-08-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

This ain't funny so don't ya dare laugh,
just another case 'bout the wrong path,
Straight 'n narrow or yo' soul gets cast
-Richard Walters

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the bottom fell out.

After a morning of listening to random sports radio hosts shoveling dirt on the casket that may or may not contain the career of Michael Vick, something struck me.

How much of this is really OUR fault?

Whether it's Sports, entertainment, or politics, we invest our hopes and dreams in OTHER people.

Not family, or friends, but complete strangers.

I heard a sports columnist tell me that Michael Vick doesn't deserve to entertain us.

Mike Vick should not play another game in the NFL. Ever.

It is not that I do not believe in second chances. I do. Everybody deserves a mulligan or two or four in life. What Vick and apparently a lot of other people need to learn is do-overs do not necessarily mean you escape unscathed.

Mike Vick should not play another game in the NFL. Ever.

There have to be consequences.

There has to be a message sent to every athlete , in every sport, everywhere, to every team, to every owner, that enough is enough. Our patience is gone.

We are sick of rooting for convicted felons. For wife beaters. For drug pushers. For drunk drivers. For steroid cheats. For rain makers. For thugs. For hooligans. For those who obstruct justice. For athletes who make our kids cry and us blush.

We are sick of athletes who can not seem to grasp that a $117 million paycheck comes with a little bit of responsibility to those fans who pay to turn on the lights in the buildings.

What you mean WE Kimosabe? (c) Tonto

Sports is was and always will be a BUSINESS. A sports journalist, of ALL people cannot possibly be as detached from reality.

A cruel game is being played, yall. And I have never been too sure of who to blame.

Until NOW.

Its OUR fault.

For centuries, since the dawn of time, people of prodigious talent have been elevated to staggering heights in the eyes of the public at large, only to ultimately fall under the weight of the unrealistic expectations.

Once upon a time, Michael Vick was the future of the NFL. Occasionally, he was every bit the jaw dropping physical talent Football fans hoped for.

Mostly he was a Young Black man staggering through life under the weight of city desperate to achieve some sort of football legacy.

Michael Vick came along at a time when The NFL was just now ready to be crowned the undisputed KING of the sporting landscape.

It took Heroic, if scientifically enabled, acts never seen before to bring baseball back from the brink of relative obscurity despite the previous century of being hailed as being MORE than sports, being hailed as the American Pastime.

Basketball was in the afterglow of the Jordan era, smoking a cigarette and watching him get dressed, playing it cool, but knowing that he wasn't coming back and wondering how it would be able to make it without the arm candy it had enjoyed for the past 12-15 years.

But this is all irrelevant now. Vick is but a passing memory, football wise.

He has crossed over from Human being to poster child, stripped of that suddenly elusive third dimension that separates object lessons and poster children from Human Beings.

What has transpired is probably16 years in the making, and the responsibility for it falls squarely on your own shoulders.

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Now playing: Kanye West - Barry Bonds feat. Lil Wayne (CLEAN)
via FoxyTunes

Already, But Not Yet

2007-08-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Luke 4:14-21

Sometimes, the most important thing is that which is missing. When you tell your significant other that you love them and all that you hear in reply is abject silence, that which is missing is more telling than anything that they could possibly say. Jesus, in reading this passage from Isaiah 61, read a messianic prophesy about Himself, but the telling thing about the reading is where He stopped - He stopped mid-sentence, in the middle of verse 2. Why would Jesus stop in the middle of a sentence like that? The answer is simple, yet profound in its implications for our Christian journey - the Kingdom of God was manifest with Jesus' entry into the world, but it will not be fully consummated until His return. His Kingdom is already here, but it is not yet fulfilled.

There is tension between the Already and the Not Yet, and we see this tension in many ways, every day. We witness the movement and power of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis, but we also see gross injustices going unpunished. We see God saving, healing, and delivering people from certain destruction, but we also see people cursing God and living well. We readily see the Already but we also understand the Not Yet, and this is why we earnestly yearn for Jesus' return - we want His Kingdom to come into effect in full. It is like beginning a race when all of your opponents have been disqualified - you are already assured of victory but you have not yet completed the race. It is much like the prototypical engagement period - you have the assurance of a life-long commitment but you have not yet consummated the relationship (n.b. failure to achieve the former often being connected to a failure to live up to the latter). We already have the assurance of our salvation through the in-dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, but we have not yet been glorified in the fullness of the Kingdom of God. We praise God for the Already but we sit on tiptoe anticipation for the Not Yet.

Patience is a virtue.

I don't know about you, but I hate to wait for that which is already mine - nothing irritates me more than waiting for my food in a restaurant, waiting in rush hour traffic to get home, or waiting for a certain Texan to leave office - but Jesus said that no man knows the day nor the hour of His return, so we have no choice but to wait for Him to return and establish His kingdom in full here on Earth. It is already established, but it is not yet completed.

Are you ready for the Not Yet to become the Already?

May the LORD bless you and keep you;
May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who has already prepared a place for us,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.

The first step

2007-08-17T00:57:00.000-05:00

Yes I know...the whole world is acting a complete fool and I am not here to hold your hand and wax eloquently and pontificate upon it.

IT is a tragedy.

But I do submit to you that for the bargain price of 80K per year, plus Health, I will camp out in the office and put out 25,000 well written and thoroughly researched words a week.

Until then, I gotta walk these dogs and represent Boo (c) Raekwon the Chef.

But in the meantime....Hug your babies and love your mommas...cause its finna get WILD in these here streets.

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Now playing: Lupe Fiasco - Bottom Top
via FoxyTunes

Ain't No Future In Yo' Frontin'

2007-08-12T08:35:00.000-05:00

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

Acts 19:13-17

It is amazing to me just how many people try to fake it 'til they make it. As I was watching the Democratic Debate that was sponsored by the AFL-CIO this week, John Edwards consistently talked about how many picket lines he had marched during the last two years. It got to the point where Joe Biden had to call him out on the carpet, asking him indirectly where John Edwards was when he was a senator from a Right-To-Work-For-Less state - where was John Edwards when publicly and vocally supporting Labor would have cost him dearly? There are a lot of people who talk a good game, and some who can walk well when there's no pressure on them, but where do we stand when it really matters? Where do we stand when our own money is on the line? Where do we stand when it's time to put up or shut up?

The seven sons of Sceva got caught faking the funk. They thought that their little side show - a profitable show in their day and ours - could ride into town and get paid, but as Steve Martin's character noted in the movie Leap of Faith, the biggest threat to a hustle is the genuine article, and the seven sons of Sceva ran into a genuine demon. One of the most telling statements that one can make is, "I almost lost my religion!" Religious people tend to get beat down by demons, but those of us who have a personal relationship with our Savior can walk in power, we can speak with authority, and we can make a difference for the Kingdom of God. Too often church folk try to put on a show for people to see just how righteous they are, but when we come face-to-face with a demon we will quickly learn that whatever is in us will truly come out of us. If we are walking with the Savior then He will stand up within us and exude His power on our behalf, but if we have nothing but religious pretense then we will find ourselves running bloodied and spiritually naked from a fight that we couldn't win.

Ain't no half-steppin'.

It is not enough to know about Jesus, you have to know Him for yourself and you have to submit the totality of your being to His sovereign will. People can fake it til they make it but that road inevitably leads to a sons of Sceva-scale beat-down. All power and authority is in Jesus Christ, and if we expect to be successful in this Christian journey then we have to center ourselves in the middle of His will because it's all about Him - He's the headliner, we're just the hype-men. Jesus doesn't employ His power on behalf of those who contribute to His kingdom, He shows Himself to be mighty on behalf of those who are committed to Him and His kingdom.

Where will you stand when it really matters?

May the LORD bless you and keep you;
May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who wants us to stand up when it matters,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Common Debuts at NUMBER one....thanks his fans

2007-08-10T17:09:00.000-05:00

How can you NOT support a cat like this.

Finding Forever IS the best album of 2007 thus far. If you don't have it...Buy it.

500 for A-Rod, 755 and 756 for Bonds, 1 for Tomlin, 500 for me

2007-08-09T00:09:00.000-05:00

And so, here we are, 2 year+ on this blog...and Im finally at Five hundred Posts. It has been a weekend of milestones.

A-Rod hits his HR 500 and suddenly he's the last hope to save baseball from Barry Bonds. Don't get too excited Alex, they were chasing you from Scrip Club to Scrip club and photographing cuss words off the back of your wife's wife-beater not 45 days ago.

Barry Bonds hits 755 and 756, much to the chagrin of all those who despise him. my feelings are well substantiated on this topic, I am not in the mood to even link you to what I said before.

Suffice it to say, Numbers don't lie (Shawn Carter)

Mike Tomlin is the real deal. The Tony Dungy Coaching tree grows a new branch. There is something about Tomlin, I could sense it. Any man whose first pregame sideline interview was the following

Adam Scheffter: DO you feel any pressure on your first game?
Coach Tomlin: Man, Pressure is trying to feed your family.

It doesn't MATTER what he said after that. That is the kind of truth America needs from a sports figure.

And finally, I would like to thank a few people for the ride from post 1 to Post 500.

Jameil- probably my most faithful reader who doesn't actually live in the house with me.

My favorite married to each other Bloggers, Mr. and Mrs. Scribe

My best friend in the whole wide world - my Blog Chaplain, who NEEDS to be getting his blog on SOMEWHERE...

Ms. Write-Now - you don't always leave your mark like I would want you to, but you've been around a long time and thats all that matters.

To My Favorite Librarian, my favorite Urban Planner, and my favorite Wedding Planner, all friends whose friendship goes WELL before Post #1; heck Ive known all three of you longer than Ive known my wife.

RPM, Wise, and Nikki - if we NEVER do the do, I still appreciate the moment. BlaqueScribe is STILL the movement.

The Starting Five - If you don't know, you NEED to ask somebody.

and FINALLY... To the First Lady of this joint, who has read every post, from 1-500 but doesn't even talk to ME about it in person...I appreciate YOU....I just wish you would share with the world what you share with me. I love you.

and to the nameless faceless souls who come and go...for seconds or minutes...Thank you for at least making me feel like I am not doing this in vain.

Here is to 500 more.

Mucho Thank you.

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Now playing: Real Late With Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97 - RLWPR 08052007 pt 1
via FoxyTunes

Once again, (again) it's on

2007-08-02T23:17:00.000-05:00

So, after several weeks of spamming Human Resources people all over the metroplex, Once again I have decided to don the apron and carve out a living slinging fried shellfish at people craving the unique confluence of seafood and hypertension.

You might ask yourself: Yo, What IS it with you and waiting tables? You clearly have a fairly impressive arsenal of skills, so what are you doing waiting tables.

For almost TWENTY years, no less?

Firstly...I would LOVE to do something else. I spent several weeks spamming HR folk and harassing placement agencies. Apparently either this is all I am good for, or God is trying to tell me something.

Or....I suck at Job hunting. (if you answered C, you probably actually know me, so no gift for you.)

All that be as it may, the bottom line is, Once again i don the apron for a living. My better half suggested that, since clearly I excel in this field, that maybe, just MAYBE, THIS is what I should be going to school for.

After a little reasearch, lo and behold, a Bachelor's program right up the highway.

And off we go.

Stay tuned for the Hypertensive Scrimp chronicles.

Im older, wiser, and just a WEEE bit desperate to make something happen. And I am working with a bunch of young impressionable Caucasians.

Pray for them, please.

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Now playing: internationalswagger
via FoxyTunes

Back from Vacation: More Shameless Shilling for Three Yards

2007-08-01T00:28:00.000-05:00

I am home now.

There is nothing like a good 4 day vacation to clear your head and get you back into the swing of things.

Except for that whole Post Vacation drag thing.

Well Here we go...I think im back in the Swing of things.

http://threeyards.blogspot.com/2007/07/field-general-studies.html

Watch Get Futuristic on 'em

2007-07-24T08:17:00.001-05:00

I have contributed to the shared Fiction blog, 50 Years From Now.

I would encourage all of you to take a goooood lonnnnnng look at that blog, because the future is closer than you think.

Run along, now..and come back and tell me what you thought.

Another year, another attempt at a football blog

2007-07-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

2007's attempt at a Football Blog begins anew

I was born into the family.

Not everyone has been as fortunate.

I was born on June 10, 1970 at Magee Women's Hospital in the city of Pittsburgh.

The Steelers of the modern era were born eighteen months before.

The Elders of our family maintain that the Steelers have a rich history that extends back to The great depression.

I would suppose that to be true.

Click the above link to continue

The Power of Blogging: LaVena Johnson's family needs your help

2007-07-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

Allow me to join other bloggers in calling for your support in the case of PFC. LaVena Johnson.

The cover-up of a soldier's death?

Once upon a time lived a young woman from a St. Louis suburb. She was an honor roll student, she played the violin, she donated blood and volunteered for American Heart Association walks. She elected to put off college for a while and joined the Army once out of school. At Fort Campbell, KY, she was assigned as a weapons supply manager to the 129th Corps Support Battalion.

She was LaVena Johnson, private first class, and she died near Balad, Iraq, on July 19, 2005, just eight days shy of her twentieth birthday. She was the first woman soldier from Missouri to die while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The tragedy of her story begins there.

An Army representative initially told LaVena's father, Dr. John Johnson, that his daughter died of "died of self-inflicted, noncombat injuries," but initially added that it was not a suicide. The subsequent Army investigation reversed this finding and declared LaVena's death a suicide, a finding refuted by the soldier's family. In an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dr. Johnson pointed to indications that his daughter had endured a physical struggle before she died - two loose front teeth, a "busted lip" that had to be reconstructed by the funeral home - suggesting that "someone might have punched her in the mouth."

A promise by the office of Representative William Lacy Clay to look into the matter produced nothing. The military said that the matter was closed.

Little more on LaVena's death was said until St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV aired a story last night which disclosed troubling details not previously made public - details which belie the Army's assertion that the young Florissant native died by her own hand. The video of the report is available on the KMOV website.

Reporter Matt Sczesny spoke with LaVena's father and examined documents and photos sent by Army investigators. So far from supporting the claim that LaVena died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the documents provided elements of another scenario altogether:

Indications of physical abuse that went unremarked by the autopsy
The absence of psychological indicators of suicidal thoughts; indeed, testimony that LaVena was happy and healthy prior to her death
Indications, via residue tests, that LaVena may not even have handled the weapon that killed her
A blood trail outside the tent where Lavena's body was found
Indications that someone attenpted to set LaVena's body on fire

The Army has resisted calls by Dr. Johnson and by KMOV to reopen its investigation.

We have seen in other military deaths, most infamously that of Army Ranger and former professional football player Cpl. Pat Tillman, that the Army has engaged in an insulting game of deny and delay when it comes to uncovering embarrassing facts. Only when public and official attention is brought to bear on the matter - as happened, eventually and with great effort, with the case of Cpl. Tillman - do unpleasant truths come to light.

Astonishing as it seems, it takes that level of outrage to compel the Army to find the truth and tell it, to honor its own soldiers. No such groundswell has yet emerged in the case of LaVena; not enough voices have demanded that someone in the military, anyone, speak for her. At first glance, the contrast between the cases of Pat Tillman and LaVena Johnson seems vast, but at the core the situations are the same. In each case, the death of a young soldier in a dangerous place and time was not explained to the families they left behind, the families that gave them up so that they could serve us. An honest accounting of their passing is all the dead ask of us.

The mother of Pat Tillman put the matter in stark and honest terms:

"This is how they treat a family of a high-profile individual," she said. "How are they treating others?"

In the case of Private First Class Johnson, we know the answer.

please sign the i-petition to show your support for finding the truth.

The pattern is starting to reveal itself.

2007-07-17T03:31:00.000-05:00

I fucks with Gary Sheffield.

Let me pause to state that, as a card carrying progressive evangelical, I usually refrain from dropping F-Bombs, particularly in public.

Be that as it may, I am a writer, and in this case, *fucks* is the appropriate verb.

In this case, I mean to say that while I am not inclined to nominate him for sainthood, there is a certain nobility, even in his ignorance, that I find endearing.

It is not easy carrying the torch for African-Americans in baseball. If Ryan Howard and Dontrelle Willis are able to maintain their affable demeanors for the duration of his career, I will be SHOCKED.

With each season, the numbers dwindle down, and African-American baseball stars talk quietly amongst themselves and to the media, trying to explain why, in a culture that lionizes sports, they toil in relative obscurity.

Gary Sheffield is a baseball player. He Has Hall of Fame-caliber Numbers and a World Series ring. He broke into the Majors in NINETEEN EIGHTY-EIGHT and has played for seven teams in both leagues.

But none of that matters.

What matters is that Gary Sheffield is unconcerned about how he "appears" to the average Joe. If you put a microphone in his face, he will say whatever he thinks, unconcerned about how he gets percieved as a result.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with Mr. Sheffield's willingness to go on the record. The fine folk at 100% injury rate were nice enough to compile a nice (if not entirely objective) list of Sheffisms

Well, after about 16 minutes of Gary Sheffield on HBO, my wife looks at me and says...

"He didn't grow with his daddy in the home, did he?"

Please sit a spell while the veteran Molder of young minds drops science like she was in danger of failing it.

"He has no filter. Clearly, he didn't have a man in the house to kick his ass and tell him you can't just do whatever the hell you wanna do. ESPECIALLY not as a Black man in America. Are you enlightened by this?"

Me: well, He did shed some potential light on treatment among certain players with the Yankees.

Her: SHUT UP! You knew that already. You aren't blind. You know how stuff like that works.

Me: well, yeah, I guess you're right.

Her: I see this all the time. The boys who don't have a man at home with a foot on their neck always are the ones quick to just go plumb off. As a man you gain a filter; not to be no punk, but you learn how to choose your spots, and speak authoritatively and clearly. How you gonna just get in front of a microphone and talk crazy just cause someone asks you a question. At some point, boys grow up to be men and learn to pick and choose.

You have to understand that as a teacher, my wife deals with this all the time. She also deals with mothers who enable this behavior and sometimes even encourage it. If you look over Gary Sheffield's career, you see a gradual maturity, but underneath, you also see the constant trend of indifference to public perception.

And so it goes.

If you strip away the minutiae, you can start to see an overarching trend.

From Gary Sheffield on the low end, to OJ Simpson on the high end, what you REALLY and truly have is an intensified version of the same stories that my wife brings home from 4th grade.

Boys who find varying degrees of trouble because they are having difficulty mastering the level of maturity necessary to conduct yourself with adults who don't love you so much that they will put up with any amount of Bullshit you dish out.

You cannot go around "sayin whatever you gotta say and doin whatever you gotta do". It doesn't work when you are nine years old...it works even less when you're 39 years old...and when you choose your particular activities recklessly...

it REALLY goes badly for you.

Just watch.

The Gary Sheffield Prelude

2007-07-17T03:30:00.000-05:00

In the process of an interview that will be on HBO's Real Sports tonight, Gary Sheffield, while interviewed by Andrea Kremer, asserted the following:

July 13, 2007 -- Ex-Yankee Gary Sheffield claims that the Yankees, and specifically Joe Torre, do not treat black players the same way as white players, in a bombshell interview with HBO's Andrea Kremer that will air Tuesday night on "Real Sports."
"Black players are treated differently than white players, particularly at Yankee Stadium," Sheffield said.
"Black players had an issue with Joe Torre," Sheffield continued. "They weren't treated like everybody else. Even I got called out in a couple of meetings that I thought was unfair."
During the interview Kremer pointed out that the most popular player on the team, Yankee Captain Derek Jeter, was half black and that he gets along very well with Torre.
"Derek Jeter is black and white," Sheffield responded. "There's really no significance. [He] just ain't all the way black."
"Derek Jeter used to come to me and try to tell you what Joe Torre is all about, he's a good man, he's this, he's that, but like I tell Derek Jeter, that's you. It's one thing that they treat you a certain way; you don't feel what other people feel."
Though he admitted he does not think Torre is a racist, he also said "I think it's the way they do things around there. Since I was there I just saw that they run their ship different."
Sheffield claimed that to survive for long as a black player, the player must be "great," and that is the only reason he has played for as long as he has.

Well...You didn't think he would be able to cast aspersions on His Holiness, Joseph of Brooklyn and the Most Revered St. Derek of Kalamazoo and just walk away, did you?

Surely you knew better than that.

The usual suspects have trotted out and harrumphed in unison. Rather than link them all, I will focus on the words of one Buster Olney, who seemed to have put more thought into his excoriation of Sheffield than anyone else.

Maybe Torre is guilty of misreading how Sheffield would take this. Or maybe Torre is guilty of not liking Sheffield, in particular; other players -- white, black, Latin -- have privately felt that he didn't like them, in particular. But in four years of covering Torre, I never once had a sense that he had less or more regard for any player based on race. His instinct is to like people. Some managers and coaches grow to dislike players intensely as they get older; Joe is not like that. This is a trait which separates Torre and Bobby Cox from some established managers.
And let's face it: Sheffield has a long history of picking verbal fights, of taking shots, of complaining about mistreatment. It's as if he needs to be mad at somebody all the time; it's as if he needs a chip on his shoulder. A lot of managers and executives who have dealt with Sheffield in the past don't take his words at face value, viewing him in the same way they look at a David Wells or a Manny Ramirez. "It's like Manny being Manny," sighed one baseball official on Friday afternoon.
Some like Sheffield, some can't stand him, feeling that he doesn't respect the game. "The most selfish player I was ever around," said one staff member. All respect his ability, his ferocious courage as a hitter. And usually, when he says stuff like he said to Andrea Kremer, the reaction is: Whatever. It's Sheff. He talks, he says stuff.
But in this case, Sheffield's words about Torre are sharp and vicious, whether he meant them to be or not. It feels like he is slinging around words recklessly -- hurtful words which, when coming from a star player like Sheffield, can label someone for life. You cannot on one hand indicate that Torre treats black players differently than white players, and on the other hand say that he is not a racist. That makes no sense, and it is irresponsible.

I will actually WATCH Sheffield on HBO before I comment on the substance of the comments.
What must be addressed is Olney's final statement:

It feels like he is slinging around words recklessly -- hurtful words which, when coming from a star player like Sheffield, can label someone for life. You cannot on one hand indicate that Torre treats black players differently than white players, and on the other hand say that he is not a racist. That makes no sense, and it is irresponsible.

Regardless of the veracity of Gary Sheffield's statements about Joe Torre, Mr. Torre's place in baseball lore is secure, if ONLY because of the lack of credibility of the messenger.

More importantly, I am bemused that Buster Olney can speak so authoritatively about what constitutes racism. He knows his baseball, and I know he was invaluable to Mike Greenberg and his Cow-milking exploits, but I wasn't aware that he was astute in the subtle nuances of racism in the workplace.

Rather than just yell and cuss and berate, let me help Buster Olney out. It is QUITE possible to be discriminating in your treatment of Black and White players and STILL not stoop to the level of being a racist. If you start with the premise that all Black people aren't alike, then it stands to reason that certain Black folk might grate on white superiors while other Black folk endear themselves to White Superiors. These are personal and cultural issues. A white man/woman can be put off by the actions of a Black subordinate and still not paint the entire race with that brush.

All this is especially ironic when viewed in the context that Journalists are so quick to dismiss the presence of racism in Professional sports. Here you have an example of Buster Olney rushing to connect dots that Gary Sheffield refuses to. Sheffield makes point in saying that Torre treated Black players DIFFERENTLY not WORSE. He says it MORE Than once.

Gary Sheffield isn't stupid, some of you just THINK he is.

PS. Ima need white folk to just walk away from the "Derek Jeter ain't all the way Black remark." You don't want NONE of that, I promise you. It is complex and really doesn't have anything to do with random white folk who know nothing of raising Bi-racial children. Just leave it alone.

An Apology:

2007-07-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

In the midst of my hard work on my forthcoming debut novel. I Have not given this blog its due.

Let me be blunt.

This blog sucks. right now. There is too much going on in the world, and in my life for me to put the kind of bullshit on here that I have been.

In that spirit, I have deleted the offending posts and will start anew tomorrow. Please accept my humble apologies.

There will be more to come on this development at a later date.

Another great moment in HipHop Nostalgia: Funk Master Flex

2007-07-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

Major Props to TreyPeezy for this one

Funk Master Flex dug in the crates for five hours and played all hits from the 90s on the Fourth of July on Hot 97.

Expect lots of bombs being dropped, lots of Flex repetitions and literally hundreds of songs you haven't heard in YEARS.

Flex actually cuts and scratches, too. Thats right, youngins, the man can actually DJ.

This Year I Write my Novel #3

2007-07-04T12:08:00.000-05:00

Today's Output: 719
Total Words: 2,041
Words remaining for First draft: approx. 147,959

Sentence of Note:

It was that detailed memory that soothed him into a deep sleep right there in the middle of the floor.

This process continued into the dawn; a moment of clarity followed by a rush of activity, stunted by a rush of emotions, ending in a torrent of tears.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Grand Theft Satellite Dish

2007-07-04T08:39:00.000-05:00

They just took it. These Mofoes took the satellite dish RIGHT off my house. Yeah, sure, I got AT&T Dish Network to come put ANOTHER one up, but how you gonna just STEAL the dish off a man's house in BROAD DAYLIGHT?

That's all, just had to get that out.

This Year I Write my Novel #2

2007-07-03T00:47:00.000-05:00

Today's output: 763 words.
Total Words: 1,322
Words remaining for first draft: approx 148,678

Sentence of note:
Music shaped Mason's thoughts and enabled him to focus and put the pieces together. He realized now that as long as there was music playing he was going to be alright.

I felt better today than I did last week. I actually stopped myself this time. it feels rough, but I know that sharpening rough text is better than having no text. I am still working on baby steps but I do feel the faintest force of momentum. Time will tell.

Thank you again, Walter Mosley.

This Year I Write my Novel.

2007-06-28T00:59:00.000-05:00

On the biggest day of his life, all Mason Dickson could do was wish a hangover had caused this massive headache.

And with those 21 words, The novel started on June 27, 2007.

You know the one, the one I always talk about, but I am never actually writing.

With the help of Walter Mosley and the encouraging of my wife, the book has an opening sentence.

For those of you writing your own novels: I implore you to get this book...now.

For those of you waiting for me to finish mine: 21 words down...149,971 to go.

The first draft is scheduled for completion January 1, 2008.

More on this story as it develops.

Today's word count = 552.

The First Annual BET Awards Recap

2007-06-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

For those of you, like my wife, who wouldn't be caught DEAD watching BET...I will save you the indignity and watch it for you.

It starts off with the "big surprise" which ends up being Dueling Jennifer H.s

Hudson and Holliday did their thing, although whomever put Jennifer in that Dress took all that People Magazine stuff about her losing weight too far. She looks good...but shed look better in a different dress.

Michael Buffer comes out to introduce Black America's favorite Big girl/Charm school dean.

But wait....props to whomever fed him the following lines:

The Miss More Betta making Moooooore Cheddah(!)
The Mistress of Thickness (!!)

Pardon me while I add Getting Michael Buffer to my list of lifetime goals.

Lets Get ready to Jiggle, he says.

Ok, I just saw a big girl put her foot over her head. All big girls are NOT created Equal.

Monique talks that big girl empowerment stuff all she wants and I aint mad at her, but she wants to be Beyonce so bad its kinda unfair.

Monique gets LL Cool J to step out of the front row and take off her OTHER shoe...cause she danced herself out of the first one.

Sidebar: James is too damn old to be dressing like that. He looks like he stumbled out of an 11th grade class.

next comes America's favorite big girl...Queen Latifah for Video of the year.

Nominees - I wanna Fu...errrr. Love you - Snoop and Akon
Irreplaceable - Beyonce
Beautiful Liar - Beyonce and Shakira
Like a Boy - Ciara
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Winner: Irreplaceable. Beyonce accepts graciously and brings up random Video director. Her mentioning that Ne-Yo wrote this song makes me realize how mannish the song actually is. Be goes on about how appreciative she is of BET....that makes ONE of us.

Next up...Clifford Harris, who breaks out his um...alter ego. TI...or is it TIP...I cant tell them apart.

This is whats WRONG with HipHop. if you wanna get your safe and split personality on, at least make them DIFFERENT.

TI is apparently the biggest thing poppin in HipHop right now, but he broke the cardinal rule by not having a live band.

I love Big Things Poppin but all this yellin' just kinda makes this rather Ehh...

Wonder if the hype man has health insurance.

Diana Ross is gettin her dance on....

I bet the mortgage that he reminds us the album comes out July 3rd.

Nick Cannon and Corbin Bleu come out. I realize now that Corbin Bleu MUST be on Nickelodeon cause I have never seen this cat before in my life. Which is how I saw Nick Cannon 10 years ago.

Don't tell anyone, but Nick is probably making more money than just about everyone on the show tonight, aside from Puffy and 50. I dont know where he got it all from, but apparently dude cashes in everytime you see him.

This Corbin kid has the ILL non urban accent. He sounds like the lost Lawrence brother....WHOA.

Nick drops a joke about Christina Milian busting him by perusing his sidekick that apparently no one got because no one remembers Christina Milian.

Best Group -

Gnarls Barkley
Mary Mary
Outkast
Pretty Ricky
Three 6 Mafia

Gnarls Barkley wins but I am not sure why, Actually I'm not sure why any of these groups were even nominated. Gnarls Barkley isn't exactly prime BET material, Mary Mary, peaked with their first hit like 7 years ago, Outkast put out a soundtrack no one bought (but me) for a movie no one saw(But me), Pretty Ricky is Pretty Ricky, which is to say they annoy anyone who isnt a teen-age girl, and Three Six Mafia will NEVER recover from winning an Oscar.

John Salley and some kid in a short set and some woman I dont know shill for people to Pay to vote for some video.

Ne-Yo reminds you that his album is in stores.

Monique is still looking like she ran a 10K.

Ne-Yo gains points for having clothed dancers. Dude still struggles singing live bless his heart, but who doesn't.

He borrows from the same catalog of moves that Usher stole from Michael Jackson and he wears a suit with sneakers...which irks me to no end.

But what irks me even more is that dude is busting a sag beneath his shiny suit.

In an awkward musical segue the band goes into Make Me Better, Fabolous' new song, which gives me a chance to hear one of my favorite current lines...

Ima need a Coretta Scott if Im gonna be King. -(Fabolous, 2007)

The Dancers suddenly get LESS clothed and Heeled up.

Fabolous reminds the crowd why the FIRST commandment of Live Rap performances is Thou shalt use a live band.

No one yells over a live band. People yell over tracks...that's just how it is.

Monique STILL looks a mess as she shills for Verizon under the guise of talkin to her Gramma on the phone. Monique know DAMN well Gramma will be in the bed asleep by the time this show is over.

Michael Clarke Duncan and Jordin Sparks present Best Actor
It is pretty safe to say Michael Clarke Duncan will NEVER be nominated for an Oscar again. Jordin Sparks is appearing on BET for the next to last time. The last time will be for her first single on 106 and Park. She will stick to pop once she realizes Black folk don't buy records.

Idris Elba -Daddy's Little Girls
Jamie Foxx - Dreamgirls
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Will Smith - Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker - Last King of Scotland

I love Idris Elba's work, but dude was WAY over his head in THIS list of nominees. Forest Whitaker won, but hes somewhere else doing something else, so Michael Clarke Duncan stole his award and took it to his house.

Commercials of note.

Who's Your Caddy? You cannot be serious.

They gave Joe Claire and Toccarra a LIVE show? I bet a dollar Toccara will be funnier on accident than Joe is on Purpose,. Why IS dude still famous, anyway?

Common - Finding Forever July 31...Get it or I will have you brought up on Manslaughter charges for killing HipHop.

Old Spice has a body spray and apparently they want Black people to use it cause their ad is IN the theater with the show.

Monique flubs the teleprompter and makes them rewind it.

Did...naw im calling him Puffy and Keyshia Cole perform the worst song on his album, which wasnt nearly as bad as you would expect.

Pufy obeys the first commandment and breaks out a mini orchestra.

The song still stinks, but Keyshia Cole is still my hoodrat fantasy.

Speaking of hoodrat fantasies...Lil Kim is in this song too. Apparently Jail taught her to stay clothed.
It just hit me, they don't play this song on the radio in DFW. I didn't know it was even popular.

Rihanna and Chris Brown present best Actress. Chris Brown is wearing Cazals and an adidas warmup. Rihanna isn't. She and Chris find a way to work in a shameless plug for his upcoming album.

Pam..errr Tichina Arnold - Everybody Hates Chris
Angela Basset - Akeelah and the Bee
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Kerry Washington - Last King of Scotland
Chandra Wilson - Grey's Anatomy

It tells you about the state of Black Actresses when TWO of the nominees are from Television.

Chris reminds us NOW that his album comes out August 28th

Jennifer Hudson thanks God and clearly didn't prepare a speech.

Big Tigger plugs his radio show that I didn't know he had. Tigger needs to understand that he will never get any bigger than he is right now.

Beyonce is the One....even down to the Matrix numbers. No Shes a Robot?

No shes Damn near nekkid.

It is now getting to the point where you just can't hate on the girl.

I almost have to believe the girl is lipsynchin...cause she is GROOOOOOOOOOOOVIN and not missing a note. and if she is...SO WHAT. lemme watch in peace.

She should get points for having dancing men...but of course....she wont get none from me.

Pat ya weave? Stop playin...

Monique joins in to get her inner Beyonce on.

Be gives over the stange to Kelly Rowland...who is STILL the sexiest member of Destiny's Child.

not the most talented...just the sexiest.

Eve comes out...and does her verse.

Who told her to stop rappin .

At the end....Kelly, Beyonce, Michelle and....I guess that's Letoya try to make you believe that they are the original Destiny's Child.

They aren't. Michelle STILL can't dance, but we just have to be grateful that she didn't fall.

Vivica A. Fox and Charlie Murphy present Best HipHop artist, Charlie Murphy shills for his new show, Hot Ghetto Mess. What ensues, is the WORST attempt at comedy I have ever seen in all my life.

Diddy
Jay- Z
Lil' Wayne
Ludacris
T.I.

T.I wins in a walk and gives his baby mama Tiny from Xscape a kiss to let all y'all know they still together. who needs matrimony when you can get a kiss at an awards show. TI apologizes for acting unroyally.

Rush Hour 3? I guess it had to come out eventually. its only been six years.

Oh, so THAT'S what happened to that Kelly Rowland movie.

A Baseball commercial on BET? Too late for that. Baseball is GONE.....Back back back back...GONE.

Kanye West Graduation - this summer. He is so large he dont need a release date

Um...Robin Thicke sounds horrible, but the band sounds good and the dancing girls look like...dancing girls., so pardon me while I turn out his voice.

He is nice enough to remind you that he is white by dancing badly.

I am pretty sure the women are swooning on cue cause Mr. Thicke's voice is anything but.

Anthony Anderson and Lauren London present best collaboration. Anthony Anderson has the best agent in the world. How else can you explain going from King's Ransom, Kangaroo Jack, and Malibu's Most Wanted, to The Shield, The Departed and Transformers?

How is Lauren London the first lady of the ATL? Oh wait..she was IN ATL...Tell a fool something. She was in Entourage and she can look forward to a career of playing _______ girlfriend/wife for the next 9 years...enjoy it darlin.

Look its T-PAIN.

I'd LOVE to hate this song, but I am sorry, I can't.

T-Pain gets his Carlton Banks on.

Akon & Snoop - I wanna Fu...errr...Love you
Beyonce & Jay-Z - Deja Vu
Beyonce & Jay -Z - Upgrade U
Diddy & Keyshia Cole - Last Night
Ludacris & Mary J. Blige - Runaway Love

Luda and Mary win.

This cat got on two tone shoes and a Blazer. He dun growed up so nice.

More shilling for HAM TV on BET. Apparently Unintentional Comedy is the order of the day on BET this summer. Wake me up when they break out season 3 of The Wire.

I am going to need these professional actresses and Actors to show a LITTLE more poise on stage when shilling for their shows.

Illegal Tender comes out August 24 but I have no idea what it's about...Lets ask IMDB.com

Apparently its kind of the Latino Boyz in the Society Doing the Right thing, Drinking Juice in the ATL.

and here is the commercial for Illegal Tender.

Wow....looks um....looks like they better try and find me lazy on a Saturday with the remote hidden if they want me to watch it.

The roster of BET original programming is so troublesome I cannot possibly address it in this post.

Patti Labelle comes out to a standing ovation, giving a tribute to Gerald Levert. She did kinda lie when she said he would kick her butt in singing runs. I am not buying that for a second.

Eddie Levert and Gladys Knight break open a can of whoopass on Wind Beneath my Wings

Young Folks take notes, please.

Yolanda Adams puts in her 15 cents....then Patti Labelle comes out and the four of them have church....Choir and all.

Nice of them to let the old folk get their thing on...Makes you wonder who of these kids will be around in 30 years to do stuff like this.

Don't answer that right now, it will only disturb you to think that far ahead with this group.

They tried to acknowledge Gerald Levert's daughter in the crowd, but I guess they couldn't find her.

They found snoop with pigtails and lil balls on them, so perhaps they might have been confused.

Nope..that's Snoop from the Wire.

Now here comes 50 Cent.

Fiddy breaks the first commandment of Live HipHop by not springing for a live band.

Um wait...aint no words...did he forget them?

no...I think hes mad cause the crowd is indifferent.

32 bars later...hes getting his Naughty word on.

OK, it is official, 50's 15 minutes of fame are over.

Next...one of them is pretty, one is a Pretty Boy and one is a pretty good football Player.

Ashanti, Floyd Mayweather, and Reggie Bush present best Male R&B Artist.

Only Floyd Mayweather can make Reggie Bush look HUGE. Hell , Floyd makes ASHANTI look big.

Akon
John Legend
Gerald Levert
Ne-Yo
Robin Thicke

First of all, Akon, REALLY?

Ne-Yo wins,

Akon? Seriously?

Damn this show is long.

Toccara and Joe Claire shill THEIR new show, while Toccara tries in vein to keep her dress on.

Monique has on a slinky Bathrobe?

Oh...this is a tribute to Diana Ross.

Alicia Keys gives tribute to Diana Ross.

Snoop still has those damn Balls at the end of his pigtails.

We are overdue for an Alicia Keys album...let the record show.

The comparisons between Diana Ross and Beyonce are starting to become unavoidable.

Erykah Badu and her afro cover Love Hangover. This needs to be released...no joke. Erykah transports herself into the 70s and leaves the rest of us in the 21st century.

I support the death penalty for Nick Cannon if he cheats on his fiancee.

Chaka Khan, who sings bad notes better than anyone EVER covers I'm Coming out.

It appears that Diana Ross' grandchildren are completely oblivious to any and everything. They also look like someone else's grandchildren.

Stevie Wonder (and his harmonica) cover Upside down like he wrote it, but he didn't.

Chanda Wilson acts like she grew up on this song...and she probably did.

Jordin Sparks actks like she grew up on this song..and we know DAMN well she didn't

All of Diana's chirren come out and announce her. and shill for her latest album.

If you thnk Tracee Ellis Ross looks like Diana..you should see the Rhonda with an afro.

I am going to resist the urge to fast forward past Diana's speech.

Monique reminds us that this is Black History. and thanks Martin Luther King, Paul Robeson, Hattie McDaniel, and Harriet Tubman.

She then introduces the CEO and President of Debra Lee...

Just once I want someone to boo this woman.

Debra Lee introduces Don Cheadle.

It is past time for Don to get his Oscar.

If you don't go see Talk to Me I am going to pull hairs from your favorite household pet.

Don Cheadle gets a Humanitarian award.

We could ask what BET is doing to enlighten us, but why sour the mood.

Henry Simmons, Big Boi, and Mario present Best New Artist.

Lupe Fiasco
Gnarls Barkley
Jennifer Hudson
Mims
Corinne Bailey Rae

Jennifer Hudson gets escorted by her boyfriend to get her second award and thanks Chicago.

Sad that Mims Career was over before he could even win Best New Artist.

and the show STILL isn't over.

GO SEE Talk to ME or I will slash the tires on your child's little red wagon.

Ciara reminds everyone how short sighted Bow Wow was.

She cant sing...but any girl who makes it rain is ok by me.

wow...this dancin thing is nice and all but she has YET to hit ONE note.

Lil Jon stepped off of hasbeen Island to get the crowd Crunk.

The 106 and Park twins bring out the ultimate fan contest win.

Im pretty sure shes too old to be watching 106 and park.

The Viewers Choice award

Beyonce - Irreplaceable
Birdman and Wayne - Stuntin like my daddy
Ciara - Promise
Ne-Yo - Because of You
Robin Thicke - Lost without you
Unk - Walk it out

Birdman and Wayne and ALLL THEIR KIDS...say thank you

Al Sharpton reminds you that he can out speak just about anyone. So much so that he outspoke my DVR.

I am officially bitter. and the show stops here for me.

USA Today don't know Jack about HipHop

2007-06-23T23:42:00.000-05:00

One of my faithful readers (I don't have many, but I do appreciate the ones that I do have) referred me to an article in USA Today that addresses the decline of rap music .

I hadn't read this article, although I had heard about it, because frankly, If I'm not taking a flight that particular day, the only days I read USA Today are the Monday after Selection Sunday, The Monday after the Draft, and the occasional Friday where there is a cool bonus section.

So, if you want to hide something from me, putting it in USA Today on a random Wednesday is a good place to start.

So, since he was nice enough to provide me a link...I will be nice enough to thrash said article for being completely out of step with the HipHop reality I am familiar with.

Rap's decline can be traced to a range of factors, including marketing strategies that have de-emphasized album sales in favor of selling less-lucrative single songs and short versions of those singles as ring tones for cellphones. But more important to the industry, there are signs that many music-buying Americans — particularly the young, largely white audience that can make a difference between modest and blockbuster sales — are tiring of rappers' emphasis on "gangsta" attitudes, explicit lyrics and tales of street life and conspicuous consumption.

So, USA Today posits that WHITE folk are tired of rappers overemphasizing "gangsta attitudes, explicit lyrics and tales of street life and conspicuous consumption".

GTFOHWTBS.

The underlying premise is that somehow White folk outgrew Rap and moved on in search of something more meaningful and that us common Negroes were left to pop lock and drop it on our own.

Note to USAToday:

The moment that the Record labels realized that they could profit from HipHop is the moment it ceased to be the cutting edge tour de force it once was.

Just as Jazz, Rock and country before it suffered under the weight of the desire to profit from the artform, HipHop is going through the same growing pains.

HipHop as an art form has NEVER been more vibrant and original...

The commercial output does not bear that out, and that is the fault of the marketplace and the distributors...not the artists themselves.

A man named Peter Rosenberg is savin HipHop?

2007-06-22T03:13:00.000-05:00

Do yourself a favor.

If you EVER loved hiphop...EVER.

Listen to Real Lat with Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97 Sundays from 1-3 am.

Yeah, I know you dont live in NY...I GOT you, dawg.
Not just Part one, but Part TWO, too.

In Case you thought the name sounded familiar. This is Peter Rosenberg ^

So is this. ^

HipHop aint dead...its just on the graveyard shift, apparently.

Now Playing Mike Bloomberg? Me.

2007-06-19T23:52:00.000-05:00

I feel kinda cramped.

Going from a 6 foot fairly robust frame of a Black man to a 5 and a half foot Jewish man can wreak havoc upon my arthritis, but I am sure the five billion dollars I am now worth will buy plenty of Aspercreme and glucosamine.

Anyway, I probably won't be able to pull this off for long so let me holla at you for a minute.

I am a self-made Billionaire with an engineering degree from John Hopkins and an MBA from Harvard. The city of New York pays me ONE DOLLAR a year to be the Mayor and I ride the subway to work. Today I announced that I am leaving the Republican Party, which of course immediately fueled speculation that I am preparing a run for President of the United States.

*sigh*

This is not news. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that I was a Democrat until 2001, when I changed parties to run as a Republican. What would a BILLIONAIRE like me look like running as a Democrat in the aftermath of Giuliani? Road less traveled boys and girls; I didn't get 5 Billy sitting in traffic.

HELLO? I TAKE THE SUBWAY TO WORK!

Anyway, after serving up an unprecedented can of Whoop-ass in the process of gaining re-election, for my final term as mayor, what do I do for an encore?

Sure, I keep telling y'all I wanna go back to Philanthropy but I can't give it away faster than I make it.

Besides, with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, I would be to philanthropy what Big L is to dead rappers.

A billionaire's ego cant survive off that.

But please don't get it twisted, me running is by NO MEANS a sure thing. It all depends on the players.

Since the cat who writes this blog gets about 14 readers a day, I can go ahead and spill the details here.

No, I wont run against Giuliani.

Whats the point? I have better hair, and a better track record with matrimony but we are practically the same person ideologically.

No, not in REALITY, but to the average Joe, if you've seen one socially liberal economic conservative mayor of New York, you've seen them all.

No, I won't run against Obama.

While we aren't ideological clones, we are both outsiders talking the same game. There is no point in me running against a man who could end up on EITHER side of me in the ideological spectrum and who has a chance of actually being above random Partisanship.

But, Imagine if you will:

It's mid March and Hillary has disposed of all the Democrats and either Mit Romney, the guy who was ME before I was me, or the Ghost of Ronald Reagan, Fred Thompson, wraps up the GOP nomination.

I cannot imagine Obama running with Hillary after she shanks him in the Lunch line on the way to capturing the nomination, and Edwards is STILL irritated he had to play second banana to Lurch in 2004. You will get a typical hodge podge of Democrats on the left

(Clinton/Bill Nelson (D-FL))
(Clinton/Richardson)

On the Right...

Romney/Thompson
Thompson/Insert random wonkish young cute conservative Pol here OR Kay Bailey Hutchison

You could drive a TRUCK Through the gulf created by THOSE choices.

and for 500 Million dollars I can build quite a nice truck.

Chuck Hagel is warming up in the Bullpen, but I just had a thought.

If Hillary and her lemmings piss off Barack Obama enough...

Imagine THIS choice...

Clinton/Richardson vs. Thompson/Hutchinson vs. Bloomberg/Obama

Hey, I got 5 Billion Dollars...anything can happen.

Now let me get this Black man out of my body; it feels like a sequel to Down to Earth around here.

Grown Ass Man Chronicles - Father's Day

2007-06-17T14:10:00.000-05:00

Father's Day Revisited

Another Father's Day has arrived and the institution of Fatherhood wheezes and gasps on Life support. Fatherhood isn't dead, but it is certainly ailing. I have been a father for 8 years and almost daily I am reminded that the perceived ideal of fatherhood and and the reality that I inhabit are still far apart.

My father died right before I turned 30, having never held his only grandson in his arms. About two weeks before his death, my father and I had our first REAL heart to heart.

During that conversation my father illuminated his mindset throughout my childhood.

He, to use a term that did not yet exist at the time he used it in February, 2000, manned up and really, REALLY explained to me what was going through his mind.

Essentially, my father acknowledged that he really had no business being anyone's father. In the interest of brevity, suffice it to say that Fatherhood was neither a strength nor a priority for him. It wasn't when I was born, it wasn't when I got into my formative years, and it wasn't until right before he made that phone call.

That actually was the easy part of our conversation.

The hard part of the conversation listening to my father tell me my future.

My father talked about how the failure of his marriage bled into his failure as a father.

How difficult it was to watch me grow up...how from one week to the next it was like meeting a different child.

Feeling like he was failing me because I had the audacity to grow up without him.

Ultimately feeling COMPLETELY useless because another man entered my life who seemed better suited for my mother and me.

And at that point, it was a wrap. He shook my Step-Father's hand and conceded the race for primary male role-model to him. From there, the visits went from once a year or so to none.

It was 7 years before I saw him again. I didn't see him again until after my Step-Father passed away of Lung Cancer.

Father's Day has always been about memories of what wasn't when I was younger and what has yet to be now that I am older.

Fatherhood may be dead to many...but to me, it is very much alive.

Excuse me while I whip this out....and tie up these loose ends

2007-06-12T22:49:00.000-05:00

For those of you that have never treated yourself to the cinematic wonder that is Blazing Saddles, you need to go ahead and get on that pronto.

With that out of the way...allow me to Venture forth and tie up some loose ends.

1. I turned 37 on Sunday. No one told me how much older 37 was than 36. Suddenly the crushing weight of middle age is upon me. It will take me a week or so to adjust and then I will be ok. Now if someone will be able to tell me what new age 37 is, since 30 is the new 20, I can go and claim THAT age.

2. My new NBA team isn't faring too well. We will get them next year. Go Cavaliers ANYWAY. Please get that man some help...and some help with his jumper.

3. Hip-Hop isn't dead. It just isn't on your radio. 2007 is shaping up to be the best year of HipHop in a long time. By year end...You will have the chance to own the following classics:
Kanye West - Graduation
Pharoahe Monch - Desire
Talib Kweli - Eardrum
Common - Finding Forever
Jazzy Jeff - Return of the Magnificent
Skillz - Million Dollar BackPack
Clifford Harris - TI vs. TIP
Lil Wayne - The Carter 3

The last two aren't necessarily my cup of tea, but clearly, some folk love them and I don't dislike them.

4. I am on the verge of something....else. I need all of you to pray for discipline on my part. I am about to pull myself in about 12 different directions and try and make progress on all those fronts. This here blog will undergo a certain neglect, while I focus myself in some other directions.

5. You may not be able to tell, but the 2008 election is getting more and more interesting. This particular blogger and blog is squarely in the corner of Barack Obama and I am oddly optimistic about his chances. History is within the reach of those who dare to reach out.

6. I am NOT the hottest Sports (or any other kind of Blogger) but thank you to all who voted for me.

7. I can do without anymore episodes of the Sopranos, but I am already dreading the end of the Wire and the final season hasn't even started yet.

8. Speaking of shows The Boondocks season 2 is now slated for a September 2007 release.

9. By request, my wife wants you to know I have a terrible habit of eating/drinking up stuff that has been left out by someone who wasn't me, namely her. If I come up dead and stinking...this is probably the reason why.

10. If you love movies at all...you should join HSX. And once you do...hit me up and add me to your league. It is way more fun than the law should allow.

I think that should cover all the losse ends. We now resume with your regularly scheduled programming.

Coming Soon: The Grown Ass Man Chronicles

2007-06-07T17:06:00.000-05:00

Real Talk from Real Men

Me and a couple of other Brothas are launching a blog (yeah yeah Get a blog, N****) this fall entitled the Grown Ass Man Chronicles.

The purpose of this blog is to allow for the voices of a broad landscape of men's voices to be heard, free from the filtering of the media and unencumbered by ulterior motives.

Why?

It is time-out for the macho BS that the media culture believes is the Black Male Voice.

Black men are demonized for being poor fathers, poor husbands, misogynists etc.

Some of these labels are well earned, some of these labels have complex underpinnings and should be explored in order to properly understood.

Many Black men have blogs...but perhaps their blogs have purposes that may not allow for introspection.

I am proposing a warehouse for the minds and hearts of Black Men to be on full display for the world to see.

We are not all going to agree. I do not expect us to, and I don't WANT us to. I want the truth, each Black man's truth, raw and uncut.

At this point..all I have is a name and a mission.

What happens now all depends.

Got a thought on this project?

Shoot me an email
dparrish2@gmail.com

DaveyWayne Pardons your Interruptions

2007-06-04T17:00:00.000-05:00

Monday 6/4

Donovan - Donovan turns down the NBA and goes back to Florida. Dude said no to 36M. I can understand that. I think the money got too good and he said yes. Pretty soon the reality set in and he realized that the money wasn't free. I applaud him for going back to Florida. Sucks for Anthony Grant, who was about to step into a NICE situation.

LeBron - Not much more to be said about this deal except for the fact that I am a man of my word. I said that if LBJ gets to the finals, that I was going to forsake my two year fandom of the Dallas Mavericks and ride HARD for the LeBron James and the Pips in perpetuity. The appropriate Genuflection is forthcoming. So....Let the record go forth....

GO CAVALIERS!!!!

Yanks/Sox - Sigh. I am officially a Yankees fan, but I admit that it is difficult for me to muster up a whole lot of energy for their day to day affairs. I will say this: If they aren't going to be outing EVERY player who dips out with strippers on the road, then they shouldn't out ANY of them.

Pinella - If it were possible to Google "He's just mad cause they suck". This would show up.

Danica - Uh...when she wins...lemme know. That said, I am still rooting for her.

Five good minutes with the unintentional and intentional comedy that is Charles Barkley -

Charles Barkley was his usual thoughtful self. Nothing particularly noteworthy to report, aside from his suggestion that LBJ get together with Magic Johnson and develop downtown Cleveland. Much has been made of the mental shot in the arm (how is THAT for a metaphor) that the Cavaliers' success has been for the city of Cleveland, a pretty passionate sports town that has suffered many indignities, not the least of which is the fact that they once elected Dennis Kucinich mayor, the river caught on fire once, and the endless tragedy that is the Cleveland Browns, who have not rebuilt from the sudden retirement of Jim Brown, much less the team jacking suffered at the hands of the good residents of the State of Maryland in 1995. As the newest passenger on the Cavalier Bandwagon, let me express my hope that an NBA championship does for Cleveland what Lombardi Trophies have done for Pittsburgh...make the best out of a bad situation. But any hope of LBJ getting his savior of the inner-city on is sorely displaced. What's wrong with Cleveland cannot be fixed with a few Starbucks, a Fridays and a multiplex.

MAIL TIME

Sheffield on Blacks and Latinos in the MLB - Oh no...thats a WHOLE other Post.

Beckham on getting out of his MLS contract - You can try and make this relevant all you want. It is not. Next?

Fan attack - This will never happen in REAL football.

THIS is what happens in REAL football.

Soccer...REALLY now.

Zook : So he read the words...is it THAT slow a news day? That said, I would LOVE to sing at Wrigley. Id even wear a Cubs Jersey. Of course it would have to be an Andre Dawson Cubs Jersey.

Tank Johnson gets eight Games - yeah...violating your probation will get you a nice parting gift from King Roger. See ya in November, Tank. Leave the guns and the crack and the knives alone (c) MC Lyte.

Cindy Sheehan Is Tired of your Crap.

2007-05-30T17:42:00.000-05:00

Cindy Sheehan is sick of you.

Yet another Memorial Day has come and gone and she has decided to hang it up. Nope, you won't have Cindy Sheehan to kick around anymore. She is going to take what she has left and go home.

After a few years of being called an attention whore by the GOP, now that she has been called an attention whore by a few Democrats, she has just had enough.

But don't think for a second that YOU are off the hook. Becuase you are not.

Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most.

Even if she isn't talking about YOU, in that you don't watch American Idol, she is talking about YOU, in that you don't care enough.

For good or for ill, Cindy Sheehan put her life on hold to protest what she saw as the sacrifice of her son Casey's life over what would prove to be a lie.

And all of you stood by and watched.

Why didn't you care enough?

Why aren't you angry?

How could you celebrate your business as usual while tens of American lives were wasted this past weekend?

Relax, these are all rhetorical questions.

But, I'll go ahead and kick these badboys around anyway.

Why don't we care enough?
This one is simple. We don't care enough because we don't FEEL it. So long as Uncle Sam isn't just plucking soldiers out at random, we really don't get too caught up in it. Tragic, yes...but reality all the same.

Why aren't we angry?
We are angry. We just aren't angry enough to DO anything about it. Fighting the Power is a lot of work. We are a little busy handling these gas prices and worrying about healthcare to get real exercised about a war we REALLY never understood the purpose of anyway. Everytime we thought we understood, the reasons changed or the goals changed. We watched you fight the power for a couple of years and you don't look like you handled it too well. You'll understand if we pass. Now if you could move, you're blocking our view of the Television, that would be GRRRRRRRREAT.

How could you celebrate your business as usual while tens of American lives were wasted this past weekend?
Uh...You, of all people, don't really want to know the answer. You just THINK you do.

Well, my random answers aside, Cindy Sheehan IS tired of your shit.

Now what are YOU gonna do about it?

Yeah, I thought so...

*click*

Viva le Double Standard

2007-05-23T17:47:00.000-05:00

I am not exactly sure what possessed the AP to ask Hank Aaron...AGAIN...if he was going to attend the breaking of his record, but they did.

I wanted to ask you about the Barry Bonds situation, if I may. He's 10 home runs away, as you obviously know. Are you following the statistics?

A: No, I have not really made any comments about that and I prefer not to really. I'd rather not get into any kind of discussion about that. I have tried to keep myself looking and thinking in another direction.

Q: Let me ask you, in general, how closely do you follow baseball?

A: Very closely.

Q: Do you read stories all the time, read the paper?

A: Oh, I don't read stories. I do follow statistics like who got how many hits, who did what, but I don't read the story, the in-depth story. For example somebody told me the other day Michael Vick was in trouble with raising dogs. I said, 'Raising dogs?' I didn't know what the story was. I follow as much as I can.

Q: How are you spending your time?

A: I do what I want to do. I try to spend a lot of time in Florida, my wife and I, so I don't know if I have any set thing. I don't play golf every day. I don't go to an office every day. Sometimes I might decide to stay at home. Sometimes I may decide to go. I have no set patterns.

Q: Do you have a lot of pain from your sport days?

A: I was very fortunate. I didn't have a lot of injuries. I did crack my ankle one year, broke and cracked it. Other than that I didn't have any real setbacks.

Q: Do you ever talk to Willie Mays?

A: I have not seen Willie, I bet you, in three or four years. It might be even longer than that. I think the last time I saw Willie was, might have been at the All-Star game, might have at the induction ceremony in Cooperstown.

Q: So what are you doing, checking box scores everyday, all the statistics, through newspapers or the computer?

A: Both. I watch the Braves play and I can get all the statistics that you want.

Q: In fact, I was just going to ask you, how closely do you follow the games?

A: Oh, I watch the Braves play every day.

Q: How many games do you go to a year?

A: I don't go to too many. I don't attend too many, but I watch on television every day.

Q: Do you have any advice for Barry Bonds?

A: For who?

Q: Barry Bonds, because he went through so much, as you did.

A: I don't have any ... As I said before, I don't have any advice whatsoever, no advice to anybody.

Q: Have you spoken with him?

A: No. I have not talked to anybody, really.

Q: What will you be doing when he's on the brink of tying or breaking your record?

A: I have no idea, probably playing golf somewhere.

Q: Would you reconsider your decision to stay away?

A: I will never reconsider my decision.

Q: That's pretty strong. Why is that?

A: Nothing. Just that it's the way I am. ... I traveled for 23 years and I just get tired of traveling. I'm not going to fly to go see somebody hit a home run, no matter whether it is Barry or Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig or whoever it may be. I'm not going anyplace. I wish him all the luck in the world.

Q: Well, if it happened in Atlanta would you go?

A: No, I won't be there.

Q: Really?

A: No.

Q: If he breaks your mark do you think it's an accomplishment on par with what you did?

A: I don't know, and as I said before, I don't want to discuss him, really. Really, I don't mean to discuss anything about it ... I've stayed out of this.

Given MY druthers, Hank Aaron would swoop in to the rescue. He would say that Barry has never tested positive, that his talents speak for themselves, and that in the current environment it isn't fair to single Bonds out for his successes when everyone else has walked with a free pass. His presence would force Bud Selig to declare his intentions and legitimize 756. Having Aaron on the Bonds' side would probably swing the numbers a little in Bonds' direction.

Alas, none of that will happen. And I am confident that, despite the painfully obvious, SOME Bob Woodward in waiting is going to ask Mr. Aaron about changing his mind.

As much as I would LOVE to get after Mr. Aaron about his crotchetiness in all this, I cannot and I will not. If ANYONE has earned a pass for anything short of a double murder of his ex-wife and her waiter/paramour, it is Henry Aaron. And for the Same reason that I pine in vain for Bonds to get his due...his TRUE due, that reason being that Barry Bonds, whether juiced or not, is WITHOUT PEER statistically, I actually encourage Henry Aaron to handle this mess, and make no mistake, that is EXACTLY what this is, any way he chooses.

Clifford Harris gets his Sir Charles on.

2007-05-21T18:05:00.000-05:00

One of the least surprising aspects of the Don Imus situation was how quickly Hip-hop was brought in to serve as the pinata after Imus had his turn. What truly was sad about that particular dog and pony show (which should never be confused with a bitch and ass show) was how few of the people we REALLY wanted to hear from were heard from.

Russell Simmons? c'mon.

Russell Simmons sold his share of Def Jam to Universal in 1999. This is like asking me how the 1995 Mercury Sable I bought in 2004 and sold in January, 2005 is doing. How would I know?

Jason Whitlock who pissed and moaned about HipHop and how destructive it was until C. Vivian Stringer cracked open a can of verbal whoopass on him.

Stanley Crouch who hasnt liked HipHop since the two words were fused together.

Yeah, Oprah trotted out Common, who USED to say bitch and ho a lot, but now, not so much, but as far as people who actually make records that need a radio version...aside from everyone's favorite pop warner football coach, Snoop Dogg, who was nice enough to weigh in with this gem:

"[Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about hoes that's in the 'hood that ain't doing shit, that's trying to get a nigga for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them muthafuckas say we in the same league as him."

Even Snoop, his latest project notwithstanding, is not quite cutting edge enough to constitute the new generation of rappers that are truly on the hook for all this audio debauchery.

Into the fray today steps Mr. Clifford Harris. You may know him as T.I., but I prefer to call him Clifford. Clifford, while he could have easily side stepped the question at hand, chose to tackle it head on...I shan't try to emulate what he said, I will let Clifford speak for himself.

That's right, boys and girls, Clifford just got his Charles Barkley on.

Blogging should be a full Time Job

2007-05-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

Time is relentless, with each passing moment, things happen and become prime fodder for a Blog, but the relentless march of responsibilities stops you from Jumping on the web and getting in front of the news.

So, With this one post, we try to catch up.

Jerry Falwell, RIP -

Once upon a time, famous people died and the media took about 48-72 hours to allow that persons fans to attempt to cast said daisy pusher-upper's legacy in as positive a light as possible. Jerry Falwell was afforded NO such luxury. Oh sure, the attempt to make Lemonade out of the orchard full of lemons he was nice enough to give the world ensued, but the dominant Web culture was having NONE of it.

Jerry Falwell was a man of God and did God's work as he thought it should be done. Would I have done it that way? I think not, but at the end of the day, it isn't my place to call into judgement his work as a pastor. As a political force, what he put into motion is largely responsible for what we deal with currently.

Yolanda King, RIP

Yolanda King's full name is apparently 'Yolanda King, eldest child of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ", because that is apparently the sum total of her life of 51 years. I am positive she did enough in her life to warrant additional comment on the national stage, but it won't matter now, as she is only #2 in the infamous "famous deaths come in threes" As someone who shares a name with my father and my son, Things like this make me wish I had named my son something else. Fortunately he has a chance to outshine me and I won't feel so bad.

David Stern, Master of the Universe -
This is David Stern's league and he will run it as he pleases, thank you very much. David Stern doesn't care if wandering off the bench when your star teammate gets reminded of his Canadian heritage with a hipcheck in to the scorer's table is instinctive to your several years of team sports playing, the rules are the rules.

None of you fools are bigger than the rules. Well, not THAT rule OR the dress code. Traveling and palming the ball and hand checking, that's different.

Melinda Doolittle, Victim of her own competence
Ehh...this deserves more thought. Suffice it to say, I will NEVER watch American Idol.

Ever.

Why YouTube continues to win/Why HipHop must be stopped

2007-05-15T17:42:00.000-05:00

I know this SHOULDN'T be funny. But guess what?

Davey gets his PTI on Vol 1

2007-05-11T16:30:00.000-05:00

From Fridays show. Hit up ESPN.com for he podcast

Suns/Spurs - Amare calls the Spurs dirty and the video is QUITE damning. Bruce Bowen has been accused of this. Hey, If you aint cheatin you aint tryin.

Dirk - STOP VOTING FOR THE MVP AWARD IN MAY. Next topic.

Pistons - I really thought this was going to be a series. Wrong again. Chris Webber did more to bring this team together than I thought possible. I am on record as saying that if King James can pull off the upset against the Pistons I am a fan of his for life.

Ricky - another + for Ricky. Ricky needs help. SOMEONE help this man, please.

Pacman - a speeding ticket @ 12:45 am, missed a counseling session. This isn't even funny any more. he may never.play.in the League.again.

Warriors - Game three tonight in the Oracle. It is going to be NOISY. Utah is KILLING them on the Boards.

Lance - Landis says the USADA wants dirt on Lance Armstrong. Floyd? Go sit down somewhere.

Rory/Tiger - Rory said Tiger is as beatable as ever. Tugging on Superman's cape is NOT a smart move...Tiger may be stinking out the joint @ Sawgrass, but the Open looms. See ya there Rory.

Tank - Tank's jail time on the gun charge is said to help him with King Roger. Yeah, he will be getting about 4 games off to start the season.

Mail Time

Not one player from the East made the All NBA Team. Justice?

Me: Yeah. Sorry, thats how it goes. Bron-Bron had some ups and downs...you cannot vote him in over Kobe

Ben Wallace was 14 minutes late saying he was stuck in traffic. Scott Skiles wasn't happy. Ben Wallace said "I aint gotta answer to nobody". Agree or disagree?

Me: Uh...Ben, you do have to acknowledge you were tardy, dog. You don't like Scott Skiles, do you?

It looks like Roger Clemens will make his return in Boston against the Red Sox. Think that game will have any hype.

Me: with any luck, DiceK will be going against him. I would actually watch that game on TV. I will NOT listen to all the hype that precedes it though.

The Best in Baseball Brewers are hitting the road to play a good Mets team at Shea. Big series for the Brew Crew or just another series?

Me: winning this series could be a huge boost for the Brewers, who are REALLY young in the field. But as long as they play well, they will be ok.

Quick Predictions...Suns steal game Three
Warriors Run for a game three win.

An Open Letter to YT

2007-05-11T00:54:00.000-05:00

Dear Sir,

I am tired of your shit. I am tired of you engaging in random hypotheticals and telling me to get over this or that. I am tired of you living in America and then either not understanding how the race game works, or worse, ACTING like you dont understand how the race game works when you get caught being slick. Most of you are better than that, but the rest of you know damn well what I am talking about.

The race game has elevated itself. Times have changed, so the game has changed. Nowadays it isn't cute to hate ALL Black folk, so now we just pick and choose the ones we hate.
If a Black man gets acquitted of a crime you think he committed and seems to be enjoying himself a little too much in your restaurant, If someone has the temerity to be happy to see him in your establishment, oh thats just TOO much to bear, huh. Nevermind the 5-600 bucks he's spending, PUT HIS ASS OUT.

Not a chance you've ever served someone ELSE who has ever been accused of a crime is there?

does that moral outrage ALWAYS flare up like that?

Do you google ALL your guests to make sure you dont have any fugitives from justice?

Yeah, I am tired of your shit.

You want me to admit I am tired of Black people's shit, too?

Not gonna happen; not today.

You don't need to know WHOSE shit I am tired of other than YOURS.

I will not hesitate to tell ANYONE I am tired of their shit.

Today, It is YOUR shit, that I am tired of.

I hate to be blunt, but I am frustrated. I made a conscious decision at an early age to play the game the way you like it played. Despite my meager upbringing, despite my early exposure to the complex history between your folk and my folk, I make a point of playing nice. I don't always agree with you, but I do actually try and listen when you talk about our relationship. Never let it be said that I didn't try to see it your way.

Believe me, I did. I am the first person, well the second, after you, of course, to grasp how things have changed. But while things have changed for YOU, they haven't changed for me.

I get called Nigger about once a year, although strangely enough, I have yet to be called a nigger here in my new home state of Texas.

I didn't face much oppression when it came time to buy my house. whatever difficulty we had was due more to our credit score than it was to our pigmentation.

Yes, I will admit that we are in a less racist society than that of my childhood. Hooray.

What we are NOT in, is a colorblind society.

You see color, and the more you don't wanna admit it, the more obvious it is that you see it.

Does that make YOU a racist?

I don't know you, so I don't know.

What I know, is that you keep score, just like we do.

You keep score even while you HATE when we keep score.

You hate when we remind you of how we were brought here in chains and humiliated and denigrated and OWNED...literally OWNED.

Yet you remind us CONSTANTLY of our shortcomings, ignoring any context that might have contributed to it.

Then you remind US of wonderful the journey has been for YOUR ancestors.

Flaunting your Declaration of Independence on July 4, all the while conveniently omitting it was almost 200 years before we were able to truly embrace the spirit of that hallowed document.

You don't hate us as much, you don't hate us as often, but we still piss you off. We piss you off because we won't do it YOUR way.

As long as it works for YOU...you love it.

Randy Moss is a lazy so and so until YOUR team signs him.

Stephen Jackson is a thug and a criminal until he sparks a resurgence in YOUR sorry ass NBA team.

The Barry Bonds situation has ALWAYS been about race.

It was when The Pirates and their fans chose Andy Van Slyke over Barry Bonds as their favorite player.

In 1991, the Pirates could have extended either Bonds or Van Slyke at 4yrs and 16 Million dollars.

They made their choice.

Then the fans threw batteries at Barry for the remainder of the decade? Why? The Pirates made that choice, not him.

"Barry Bonds admitted that he cheated on his taxes, cheated on his wife, and cheated on the game", says Curt Schilling on a talk radio show. Terry Francona encouraged him to shut up, because, apparently Mr. Schilling doesn't speak to the press in Boston, and he got tired of having to explain Schillings antics to the media.

Barry Bonds is on the verge of history. You cannot stop it. You can act like it didn't happen. You can point to random books and anecdotes as evidence.

What you cannot do, is erase history.

You can point to Hank Aaron and put words in his mouth about how ashamed he is of Barry Bonds, but you know nothing of Mr. Aaron and his struggle. Why would Mr. Aaron want to participate in this foolishness?

If this is a farce, it is because many of you want to take this from Barry despite tangible evidence of guilt.

When the evidence you are so sure of exists, I will stand by idly and whistle dixie while you all rail "I told you he was dirty".

Until then, Shut up and enjoy the game.

You aren't convinced and I didn't expect you to be.

I know you THINK you don't hate Barry because he is Black;

You hate Barry because he is Barry.

What you fail to realize is:
Barry is who he IS, because he is Black.

So remember when you sit there praying and hoping for the fates to intervene on this or any other topic, that the decisions you make have race involved.

It's ok, I won't hate you for it.

I do it all the time.

I just need you to stop lying to yourself, cause the sooner you can do that, the sooner we will all get along like you THINK we do.

Because although I rarely say it, I am tired of your shit.

Vernon Wells is my new Favorite Player

2007-05-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

Unless the Mr. Dork is the OWNER of the Cleveland Indians, I am not quite sure how he can respond to this.

Oh and who is Mr. Wells?

Vernon Wells was born in Shreveport but grew up in Arlington, Texas, where his family moved in 1988. During a Little League practice he was smacked in the face with a groundball, a misfortune that led to him becoming a stellar center fielder (he won consecutive Gold Glove awards in 2004, 2005, and 2006). In 1993, Wells entered Arlington's Bowie High School where he starred as a quarterback on the football team and as an outfielder on the baseball team. In his senior year, he batted .565 with 7 home runs and 20 RBI. Before choosing to enter the Major League Baseball Draft, Vernon entertained the idea of going to the University of Texas at Austin to play both football (as a wide receiver) and baseball.

Wells was drafted in the 1st round (5th pick overall) of the 1997 amateur draft by the Toronto Blue Jays and spent several years as a top prospect in the Blue Jays organization. From 1999 2001, Wells was a regular September call-up and played in 57 games. The organization pegged him as the center fielder of the future. through

In 2002, Wells was given his first chance to be an everyday player. Although disqualified from Rookie of the Year contention because he had exceeded the 130 career major league at-bat limit to qualify as a rookie (the award went to teammate Eric Hinske), Wells proved himself to be one of the top rising stars in the game. He batted .275 with 23 home runs, 100 RBI and 87 runs while asserting himself as one of the most fluid center fielders in the game. Some Toronto commentators described it as the quietest 100 RBI season a Blue Jay player had ever had.

In 2003, Wells' star continued to rise. Although his production slowed toward the end of the season, he finished the season with a .317 batting average, 33 home runs, 117 RBI and 118 runs. He led the league with 215 hits, 49 doubles, and 373 total bases and finished 8th in American League MVP voting. He also participated in his first All-Star game. He won the AL co-player of the week for the first time on June 23, 2003, sharing the honor with [1] Corey Koskie, who would become Wells' teammate in 2005. A talented defensive outfielder, Wells won his first Gold Glove Award in 2004, and a second in 2005.

Wells has often been considered a very slow starter to the MLB season, often batting near the "Mendoza Line" (a .200 batting average). However, he began the 2006 season on a torrid pace, and continued to hit well throughout the year, ending the season with a .303 Batting Average, 32 Home Runs, and 106 Runs Batted In. Wells year was capped by a game against the Boston Red Sox in which he hit 3 home runs, with two coming off of Red Sox starter Josh Beckett. He won the AL player of the week honour on July 24, 2006 [2] for the second time in his career.

Wells' performance in center field with the Jays in 2006 was recognized with Wells' selection as a reserve outfielder on the American League All-Star Team. Wells was later promoted to the American League's starting lineup after an injury to Boston's Manny Ramirez. Wells' appearance during the July 10 festivities at Pittsburgh's PNC Park marked his second time participating in the mid-summer classic (his first coming in 2003).

While widely recognized for his strong hitting statistics and exceptional defense, Wells has also faced criticism regarding his performance in clutch situations. Despite his strong stats line, Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi criticized Wells, as well as teammates Troy Glaus and Shea Hillenbrand (now with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), for failure to perform during key situations after two losses to the Kansas City Royals just before the 2006 All-Star break. He silenced these criticisms with great play throughout the rest of the year including a walk-off home run against New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

At the end of the 2006 season, Vernon Wells was awarded his 3rd straight Gold Glove Award Torii Hunter, and Ichiro Suzuki. for his outfield defense, along with

On December 15, 2006, the Blue Jays announced that they had re-signed Wells to a seven-year, $126 million contract extension.^[2] The contract also includes a no-trade clause and an opt-out clause after the fourth season. The deal was formally announced^[3] three days later in a press conference at Rogers Campus. At the press conference it was announced that Wells would donate $1 million to the Jays Care Foundation^[4], a charitable organization run by the Blue Jays. Known for his charity work, Wells indicated he would continue to be involved with the foundation in the future.

Thank you Wikipedia.

Teacher Appreciation Week in The Parrish Household

2007-05-07T22:31:00.000-05:00

Today is the start of Teacher Appreciation week. But FIRST, a story:

Once Upon A Time, A certain teacher I know very well was starting a typical day in fourth grade. One of her struggling students was unusually late. Apparently his mother called the police (no, not the local school security guard but two Fort Worth Police officers) and the police had to physically carry him into the school and put him in his chair.

The teacher, upon seeing how visibly shaken and upset the boy was went over and tried to calm him down. After some soothing words that were met with more angry, tight lipped scowls, he put her hand on his shoulder, because he was clearly shaking...

and his shirt was wet.

fresh out of the washing machine, wet.

His Jeans, same way.

She asks the boy who is now on the verge of tears if his mother knows his clothes are wet.

"She gave them to me"

Needless to say...She took the boy to the counselor.

and is in the process of calling Child Protective Services.

So, Hug a teacher today...I know I will.

Mayweather you like it or not.

2007-05-06T23:53:00.000-05:00

Boxing isn't dead. But it is crazy if it thinks I will make a habit of dropping 35-55 bucks a pop to watch what I could watch the following week on HBO.

I did drop the 55 bucks for the DLH-Mayweather fight. Once I realized I wasn't in the mood to get out amongst the people, it was either wait a week or come up off that change.

Luckily it just goes on the Phone bill, so i didn't actually have to "PAY" for it. Chances of me actually digging down for 55 bucks for this fight would have been pretty slim.

BE that as it may, I enjoyed the fight.

FW, who is half Panamanian has a good appreciation for boxing so it was enjoyable watching it with her. The fact that she has a good grasp of the sport was one of the reasons I actually drop the dough for it. If it was just about me and she was a casual boxing fan I would have gone ahead and waited.

Of course, I made the mistake of watching DLHM 24/7 before hand.

FW is NOT a fan of Mr. Mayweather's

Not of his conspicuous consumption
Not of his frequent us of profanity
Not of his father or uncle, both of whom have set the English language back decades.
Not a fan of his insistence on talking trash
and most importantly
Not a fan of her husband's insistence on rooting for him.

I don't think I love my wife; I KNOW I love my wife.

Her loathing of anything that might make Black folk look bad is laudable. It is probably the 4th grade teacher in her. She is instantaneous with the whole "See...thats why i dont mess with y'all no more...bit"

My response is a little more guarded. Perhaps because I get enough folk in my energy badmouthing Black folk without me adding on to it.

But I wasn't rooting for Floyd so much as I was rooting against Oscar.

This was a curious phenomenon for FW who queried me about it.

My Response?

The year was 1992.
Yours truly was a new resident of Southern California, which as you might remember was just starting to clean up from Hurricane Rodney King 4. There was not much good news to be found around these parts and me being new to the area and just starting out, I was in lack of cable television and was stuck with local television for entertainment.

Along comes the run up to the 1992 summer Olympics and the local news turned into OSCAR TV. It was all Oscar, all the time. His family was the poster child for the good Mexican. He was bigger than the DREAM TEAM for goodness sake.

Anyway, suffice it to say, As a cynic, I got tired of that.

That said, my primary issue with Oscar is that he is completely lacking in grace. Its like Boxing by numbers. You can almost see him counting to himself as he Frankensteins his way from corner to corner.

When you get up to the Shane Moseleys and Trinidads, even the Ike Quarteys of the world you see that Oscar doesnt FEEL boxing so much as he DOES it.

That bears itself out in the way analysts fawn over Mr. DLH in his work ethic.

As though Mayweather was BORN like this....Stop me if youve heard THIS before.

Anyway, before I start auditioning for Ring Magazine, I will summarize the fight thusly:

Floyd Mayweather illustrated, for those who forgot the lessons of DLH-Trinidad and DLH-Moseley I and II that the one thing Oscar cannot handle is blinding speed and impeccable technique.

Bernard Hopkins? Oscar never had a chance.

Oscar never did solve Shane Moseley, so what did you REALLY think he would do with Floyd Mayweather?

That said...the REAL winner of the fight was still Oscar De La Hoya.

Why?

Because for all that trash Floyd was talking...the name at the bottom of the check?

Oscar De La Hoya - Golden Boy Productions.

Almost to All Done - Dallas Mavericks 2007

2007-05-04T07:48:00.000-05:00

Summer is here.

I know that summer is here because the Dallas Mavericks have broken my heart.

AGAIN.

Dirk Nowitzki is what I always feared he would be. An immensely talented role player in search of a star to hide behind. Fortunately for me, I am not sufficiently engaged in my fan relationship with the Dallas Mavericks to be heartbroken and embarrassed. Unfortunately for the Dallas Mavericks, I am not sufficiently engaged in my fan relationship to say that I will be back next year to support them.

This team has succeeded in doing ONE thing. They have shown us that they are NOT built for the playoffs.

Last year was a fluke.

Be that as it may, Something else must be addressed. The Golden State Warriors are NO JOKE. The future will bear this little fact out, but near as I can tell, the Warriors have their ticket punched for the Western Conference Finals.

The Golden State Warriors were better than the Dallas Mavericks. I cannot say it any plainer.

Now, if the Warriors Run and Gun themselves into the Finals, we may have to say that the Dallas Mavericks were victims of the biggest late season surge since the 2005 Steelers.

For the rest of this year, I ride HARD for the Golden State Warriors.

NellieBall UP.

The Ultimate in Cooneration: VH's Little Beauties

2007-05-03T00:02:00.000-05:00

So, VH1's Little Beauties was on.

Aside from the usual slimyness that comes with SIX YEAR OLD LITTLE GIRLS WITH ENOUGH MAKEUP TO turn Mike Tomlin to Lily Tomlin, and the residual discomfort that comes with SIX YEAR OLDS IN BIKINIS. not too much was going on.

So I was minding my business, reading some insightful Political commentary, when FW (Future Wife) stopped me in my tracks.

FW:DAVID....Look at this, and DON'T turn your head.

Me:....um....ok

She presses play on the DVR and there is the 6 yr old Black girl winning for the Swimsuit competition, which I conveniently wasn't paying attention to and the girl's momma, who was built in the mold of your Division II Nose Tackle, was running up to give her little star a big ole hug for getting the win.

and THEN...

*cue the drumroll*

*swell the ominous symphony*

Judge: Kim, (Black girl's momma) we haven't seen you roll in a while. Roll for us.

y'all, THIS BITCH does a front headroll

headroll: when you lean forward and put the top of your skull on the ground and then...ROLL over on your back

and lands on her ass with her legs up in the air.

Ok. I ill let y'all marinate on that visual.

NO, I want you to inhabit the visual:

YOU a full figured, married black woman, are the mother of a beautiful 6 year old girl. Your daughter is heavily made up and participating in a beauty pageant.

Upon winning, in your jubilation, you get a request from the Judge (insert random white male of questionable orientation) to "roll for us".

You, inasmuch as you have clearly rolled for them in the past(to their glee) oblige.

Um....WTF are YOU THINKING?????

That, dear mama, ((c) Shakur) is the ULTIMATE in Cooneration. Be thankful that I cannot find a link.

Ma'am, I will need you to sit your ass down somewhere.

The Monthly 106 and Park

2007-05-02T14:54:00.000-05:00

As spring morphs into Summer...I am going to start a Monthly series, where I Blog 106 and Park, which whether you like it or not, is the pulse of urban culture.

If someone wants to sell a movie or a song to your kids, then this is the show they hit.

You won't watch it, so I will watch it for you.

Tuesday May 1, 2007 5pm Central Show #1198

#10 DJ Khaled feat. Akon, TI, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman & Lil Wayne
Six Days on the Countdown

Comments: Since this is my first time seeing the video, I don't have a lot to offer. It seems inoffensive enough. No half-naked women, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your vantage point.

Scratch that...cue the quick shot of the models. How premature of me.

I think Rick Ross called himself the Biggie of his City. Pardon me while I go rinse out the small portion of vomit that emerged in my mouth.

Fat Joe must have just MOVED to Miami. If you can't beat 'em join 'em i reckon.

Akon is just inescapable. As long as he isnt humping 14yr olds on stage...more power to him.

Wait..was that a cameo by Jennifer Lopez?

yes. Guess her Husband let her out to play.

They snipped out Wayne and his Daddy. No kissing for you.

Tease of Ne-Yo's TWO performances.

Meaningless blather about seeing someone who looks like someone else.

#9 Bobby Valentino & Timbaland - Anonymous
Debut on the Countdown

Timbaland strikes again. This actually isn't bad...but i dont ever want to hear him perform this live. I wonder if he played this for Hillary Clinton at the fundraiser he had for her at his house?

#8 Swizz Beatz- It's Me, Snitches
15 days on the Countdown.

Uh...Is he serious? This dude has produced for EVERYONE, why is he RAPPING.

The beat is REALLY starting to grow on me, but he REALLY needs to be quiet.

#7 T-Pain
Buy you A Drink
4 Days on the Countdown

Tallahassee's finest.

This is a classic example of a song that I wouldn't mind nearly as much IF...

It wasn't on the radio like "weather on the 8s"

And dancing girls.

IN between videos Tango from IloveNY came on to spend a few seconds of his waning 15 minutes of fame. He should be at about 14:17 now. He promises that he will be back on Cable TV. Hooray. Maybe that means he WON'T be on my satellite dish.

Snoop Shills for the 106 and Park mobile Fan club. If they pay me...i'll link it.

#6 Ciara - Like A Boy
36 Days on the Countdown (former #1)

Personally I prefer Reggie Bush in a Helmet and Pads, but thats just me.

Mario Williams, eat your heart out.

yay for Dance scenes.

New Joint of the Day MIMS - Like This

Dude has One-hit-Wonder written ALL OVER him.

ONE plus though, the old school dancing and DJ shots. that aint NEARLY enough.

Dude adds on another single snippet...nope don't like that either.

Mims, you are now the newest member of the One-Hit-Wonder Club.

#5 DJ Unk - 2 Step
32 days on the Countdown.

I cant see the two steppin. How am I supposed to learn with all the flashing lights in the video. Ok I just sounded like 60 years old just then.

Flashback Joint - Ne-Yo So Sick Live performance.

I cannot tell a lie. Ne-Yo is the best mainstream R&B singer/songwriter to come along in MANY MANY months. His Live singing skills are....adequate.

The ALBUM... GOOOOOOOOOOOD. Better than the last one even.

Ne-Yo gets his yap on with the Hosts.

And reminds people like me that hes like the ONLY decent song writer on mainstream R&B.
Mario - Let me Love you
Beyonce - Irreplaceable

what I appreciate is that this isn't just mindless screaming...these folk APPRECIATE dude.

#4 Young Buck - Get Buck
22 Days on the Countdown

This is probably my favorite VIDEO on this show. Its actually really well done.

You will NEVER hear me front on a video with steppers and Tubas and a fake Marching Band in it. Sorry. Can't do it.

I cant wait until a real MC gets a hold of this track.

Buck is ok, but THIS track deserves a sound thrashing. Someone get Joe Buddens on line two.

Nothing like putting your favorite check cashing joint in the video.

They come back to Ne-Yo, who I am liking more and more. He seems to "get it"

Dude isnt very tall.

I realize now that THIS is why I watch this show, and this is why I am DOING this post.

Ne-Yo is a bright kid.

He wants to write for Prince...i dunno if hell be able to get that done, though.

#3 Pretty Ricky & Sean Paul Push It
6 days on the chart

Ok...they aint pretty, and their names ain't Ricky...what is this about?

And do they make these kids WATCH phantom of the Opera before they put the mask on and prance around? I'm just wondering.

Sean Paul. In it for the check, no doubt.

#2 Lloyd - Get it Shawty
20 Days on the chart

This song makes me wish I was 20 again. But music was better when I was 20, so maybe not.

This video is rather color struck, btw.

#1 Ne-Yo Because of You Live Performance
Im not going to belabor how much I like this kid. He isnt the best SINGER in the world...but he does what he does well.

So I made it. Let me know if I should abandon this or keep it up.

If you like it, lemme know...Ill be back next week.

If you don't....Youll never see this again.

Happy Anniversary.

2007-05-01T01:08:00.000-05:00

So....Happy Anniversary Mr. President. Hope today is going well for you. I'll spare you the verbal thrashing I am sure I could work up, since I am sure you will be target practice all day.

I just wanted to say: I am sure this seemed like a REALLY good idea 4 years ago.

And in case you forgot what you said, let me go ahead and post that for you.

Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment — yet it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage — your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other — made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.

Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of precision, and speed, and boldness the enemy did not expect, and the world had not seen before. From distant bases or ships at sea, we sent planes and missiles that could destroy an enemy division, or strike a single bunker. Marines and soldiers charged to Baghdad across 350 miles of hostile ground, in one of the swiftest advances of heavy arms in history. You have shown the world the skill and the might of the American Armed Forces.

This nation thanks all of the members of our coalition who joined in a noble cause. We thank the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, who shared in the hardships of war. We thank all of the citizens of Iraq who welcomed our troops and joined in the liberation of their own country. And tonight, I have a special word for Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld, for General (Tommy) Franks, and for all the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States: America is grateful for a job well done.

The character of our military through history — the daring of Normandy, the fierce courage of Iwo Jima, the decency and idealism that turned enemies into allies — is fully present in this generation. When Iraqi civilians looked into the faces of our servicemen and women, they saw strength, and kindness, and good will. When I look at the members of the United States military, I see the best of our country, and I am honored to be your commander in chief.

In the images of fallen statues, we have witnessed the arrival of a new era. For a hundred years of war, culminating in the nuclear age, military technology was designed and deployed to inflict casualties on an ever-growing scale. In defeating Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, Allied Forces destroyed entire cities, while enemy leaders who started the conflict were safe until the final days. Military power was used to end a regime by breaking a nation. Today, we have the greater power to free a nation by breaking a dangerous and aggressive regime. With new tactics and precision weapons, we can achieve military objectives without directing violence against civilians. No device of man can remove the tragedy from war. Yet it is a great advance when the guilty have far more to fear from war than the innocent.

In the images of celebrating Iraqis, we have also seen the ageless appeal of human freedom. Decades of lies and intimidation could not make the Iraqi people love their oppressors or desire their own enslavement. Men and women in every culture need liberty like they need food, and water, and air. Everywhere that freedom arrives, humanity rejoices. And everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.

We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We are pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We have begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We are helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people. The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. And then we will leave — and we will leave behind a free Iraq.

The Battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001, and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19 evil men — the shock troops of a hateful ideology — gave America and the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions. They imagined, in the words of one terrorist, that September the 11th would be the "beginning of the end of America." By seeking to turn our cities into killing fields, terrorists and their allies believed that they could destroy this nation's resolve, and force our retreat from the world. They have failed.

In the Battle of Afghanistan, we destroyed the Taliban, many terrorists, and the camps where they trained. We continue to help the Afghan people lay roads, restore hospitals, and educate all of their children. Yet we also have dangerous work to complete. As I speak, a special operations task force, led by the 82nd Airborne, is on the trail of the terrorists, and those who seek to undermine the free government of Afghanistan. America and our coalition will finish what we have begun.

From Pakistan to the Philippines to the Horn of Africa, we are hunting down al-Qaida killers. Nineteen months ago, I pledged that the terrorists would not escape the patient justice of the United States. And as of tonight, nearly one-half of al-Qaida's senior operatives have been captured or killed.

The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We have removed an ally of al-Qaida, and cut off a source of terrorist funding. And this much is certain: No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the regime is no more.

In these 19 months that changed the world, our actions have been focused, and deliberate, and proportionate to the offense. We have not forgotten the victims of September the 11th — the last phone calls, the cold murder of children, the searches in the rubble. With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got.

Our war against terror is proceeding according to principles that I have made clear to all:

Any person involved in committing or planning terrorist attacks against the American people becomes an enemy of this country, and a target of American justice.

Any person, organization, or government that supports, protects, or harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and equally guilty of terrorist crimes.

Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups, and seeks or possesses weapons of mass destruction, is a grave danger to the civilized world, and will be confronted.

And anyone in the world, including the Arab world, who works and sacrifices for freedom has a loyal friend in the United States of America.

Our commitment to liberty is America's tradition — declared at our founding, affirmed in Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms, asserted in the Truman Doctrine, and in Ronald Reagan's challenge to an evil empire. We are committed to freedom in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in a peaceful Palestine. The advance of freedom is the surest strategy to undermine the appeal of terror in the world. Where freedom takes hold, hatred gives way to hope. When freedom takes hold, men and women turn to the peaceful pursuit of a better life. American values, and American interests, lead in the same direction: We stand for human liberty.

The United States upholds these principles of security and freedom in many ways — with all the tools of diplomacy, law enforcement, intelligence, and finance. We are working with a broad coalition of nations that understand the threat, and our shared responsibility to meet it. The use of force has been, and remains, our last resort. Yet all can know, friend and foe alike, that our nation has a mission: We will answer threats to our security, and we will defend the peace.

Our mission continues. Al-Qaida is wounded, not destroyed. The scattered cells of the terrorist network still operate in many nations, and we know from daily intelligence that they continue to plot against free people. The proliferation of deadly weapons remains a serious danger. The enemies of freedom are not idle, and neither are we. Our government has taken unprecedented measures to defend the homeland — and we will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike.

The war on terror is not over, yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. No act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve, or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to victory.

Other nations in history have fought in foreign lands and remained to occupy and exploit. Americans, following a battle, want nothing more than to return home. And that is your direction tonight. After service in the Afghan and Iraqi theaters of war — after 100,000 miles, on the longest carrier deployment in recent history — you are homeward bound. Some of you will see new family members for the first time — 150 babies were born while their fathers were on the Lincoln. Your families are proud of you, and your nation will welcome you.

We are mindful as well that some good men and women are not making the journey home. One of those who fell, Corporal Jason Mileo, spoke to his parents five days before his death. Jason's father said, "He called us from the center of Baghdad, not to brag, but to tell us he loved us. Our son was a soldier." Every name, every life, is a loss to our military, to our nation, and to the loved ones who grieve. There is no homecoming for these families. Yet we pray, in God's time, their reunion will come.

Those we lost were last seen on duty. Their final act on this earth was to fight a great evil, and bring liberty to others. All of you — all in this generation of our military — have taken up the highest calling of history. You are defending your country, and protecting the innocent from harm. And wherever you go, you carry a message of hope — a message that is ancient, and ever new. In the words of the prophet Isaiah: "To the captives, 'Come out!' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!"'

Thank you for serving our country and our cause. May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless America.

Yeah, good stuff, Mr. President. Happy Anniversary, indeed.

This Is Why I'm Hot

2007-04-29T08:21:00.000-05:00

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because You were slain,
and with Your blood You purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."

Revelation 5:6-10

You would think that with all that Jesus has done for us we would actually glorify Him in our lives, but if you stop to think about it when is the last time that you said or did anything that directly glorified God before men? For most of us who are called by the name of Jesus Christ the world wouldn't know us from the every-day run-of-the-mill heathen - it's not that we're out there living wild and doing everything imaginable, but we aren't exactly actively glorifying God either. The truth is that we rarely glorify Him with our walk or in our talk - we rarely glorify the Lord of Hosts in the way we live - we live for our own plans, our own agenda, the desires of our own hearts. We don't enthrone God as Lord, we retain Him as a consultant - consulting Him when we find ourselves in a jam, consulting Him when we find ourselves in over our heads, consulting Him whenever we need the hook-up.

As if we could pimp God.

Jesus died. He didn't just fade away. He didn't die in His sleep. He was crucified, stripped naked and hung like a piece of meat to die and dry in the heat. He was pierced for our proclivities, He was crushed for our crimes; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb have been bought with a price - Jesus paid it all - and all that He asks in return is that we become a kingdom of priests to serve our God. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light, yet if you look at what motivates us, what matters to us, what gives us a sense of self esteem, it seems to have very little to do with the One who gave His life that we might live. We get a new car and we begin to feel good about ourselves. We get a new outfit or some new shoes and we begin to feel good about ourselves. We get a promotion or some recognition and we begin to feel good about ourselves. We begin to get a little attention and suddenly all is right in the world, but didn't Jesus make everything alright on Calvary? Didn't Jesus make everything alright when He said, "It is finished"? Didn't Jesus make everything alright when He got up early Sunday morning with all power in His hands?

Or was it those new shoes?

Too many Christians - and I'm looking straight in the mirror here - too many of us have our self-image and self-worth affected by things that have nothing to do with Jesus Christ. We sing "Jesus is the center of my joy" when He really resides on the sideline. We sing "Jesus is all the world to me" when He really gets a couple hours on Sunday and the occasional Wednesday night for Bible Study. If you ask us then we'll tell you that it's all about Him, but if you watch us then too often you'll find that we're living like Mims - "I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't 'cause you're not." We are just as materialistic and pleasure-focused as the unsaved when our mission - our job - is to reconcile this lost and dying world back to its Creator. We need to take pride in the fact that we are favored by God. We need to take pride in the fact that we have been called to work on His behalf in this world. We need to sing a new song in this land because it's not about our stuff or our accomplishments or the praises and acclaim of men. That is not the foundation of our happiness. That is not the cause of our contentment. That is not the source of our smiles. No, this is why I'm hot. This is why I'm hot. This is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot: I'm hot because He died and I'm amongst His flock. This is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot. I'm forgiven and redeemed, blessed of God and most esteemed; nonetheless they still can't see me 'cause I elevate the King. Yes, this is why I'm hot. This is why I'm hot. This is why, this is why, this is why I'm hot.

May the LORD bless you and keep you;
May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who wants us to share the heat,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.

An Open Letter to The Black Athlete

2007-04-28T00:41:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me first start by saying that I admire your body of work. From those of you that dominate the landscape of human achievement to those that eke out a living in Arenaleague2; from those of you in the sunset of your life, burdened by the aches and pains of living a life of surreal physical labor to the prodigies amongst us, forced to come of age in front of the whole world.

From Hank Aaron, C. Vivian Stringer, and Muhammad Ali to the two kids at the end of my block who hold down the bench for the pee wee football team in my neighborhood, let me say that I appreciate you all, even the ones I actively root against.

This letter will probably take a while to write, so I will write it in parts. Today I will get the formalities out of the way.

These formalities consist of me saying:

I am NOT an athlete, but I am Black.

If you ARE an athlete, or involved in athletics on any level from childhood recreational to the NFL and everything in between, and you are of some African heritage, this letter (or series of letters) is for you.

This is not a love letter, although I do love you.

This is certainly not hatemail cause I harbor no hate for any of you.

Not even you, Mr. Simpson, although you have made it difficult.

This letter is an introduction, to let you know that I exist.

That someone is content to allow you to simply exist.

To do YOUR job just as I do mine.

I don't ask that you raise my children or be their role model, unless that role particularly interests you.

If it does, I am sure I will notice and encourage my children to admire you appropriately.

If not, I will teach them to watch you do what you do and acknowledge your skill and talent in doing so.

And I will encourage them to ignore the minutae of your life as best they can.

The times, folk, they are a changing, for all of you.

I want you folk to know that this change that is embarking is not what the true sports fans would have wanted to see.

I want you to know That it wasn't supposed to be this way.

I want you to know that even though it is, you don't have to let them win.

I want you to read all these letters...

Thank you...

A Fan.

The art of Flipping the Script - By W.

2007-04-25T23:05:00.000-05:00

I was watching the Mavs/Warriors and DVRing Bill Moyers Journal.

This of course was after sitting through an American Idol that made me scratch my head bloody since I couldnt pull any hair out. (I am now bald. By choice, mind you.)

Anyhow, I made the mistake of flipping to PBS during a commercial break just to check on what was going on.

I stumbled across this:

ANNOUNCER (March 6, 2003): Ladies and Gentlemen: the President of the United States

PRESIDENT BUSH: Good evening, I'm pleased to take your questions tonight.

BILL MOYERS: Two weeks before he will order America to war, President Bush calls a press conference to make the case for disarming Haddam Hussein.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Iraq is a part of the war on terror. It's a country that trains terrorists, it's a country that could arm terrorists. Saddam Hussein and his weapons are a direct threat to this country.

BILL MOYERS: For months now, his administration has been determined to link Iraq to 9/11.

PRESIDENT BUSH: September the 11th should say to the American people that we're now a battle field.

BILL MOYERS: At least a dozen times during this press conference he will invoke 9/11 and Al Qaeda to justify a preemptive attack on a country that has not attacked America.

REPORTER: Mr. President, if you decide…

BILL MOYERS: But the White House press corps will ask no hard questions tonight about those claims. Listen to what the President says:

PRESIDENT BUSH: This is a scripted…(laughter)

REPORTER: Thank you Mr. President--

BILL MOYERS: Scripted. Sure enough, the President's staff has given him a list of reporters to call on.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Let's see here… Elizabeth… Gregory… April…Did you have a question or did I call upon you cold?

APRIL: No, I have a question (laughter)

PRESIDENT BUSH: Okay. I'm sure you do have a question

ERIC BOEHLERT: He sort of giggled and laughed. And, the reporters sort of laughed. And, I don't know if it was out of embarrassment for him or embarrassment for them because they still continued to play along. After his question was done. They all shot up their hands and pretended they had a chance of being called on.

APRIL: How is your faith guiding you?

PRESIDENT BUSH: My faith sustains me because I pray daily. I pray for guidance.

Uh...wait...lemme see if I understand this.

What I saw was SCRIPTED????

Like that stupid Bush Sitcom that was on Comedy Central???

I turned away from the game and went upstairs to watch this from the beginning.

You can watch this on the Website or at least read the transcript.

Try not to get angry.

I'm off to research Supreme Court Cases for my favorite teacher's legal class.

Discussing HipHop....How to...How NOT to...

2007-04-25T08:57:00.000-05:00

This is how NOT to do it.

Pairing a man who doesn't know Timbaland songs with a man who doesn't know Diddy (Puffy, whatever) songs is probably not the way to go.

This is how it is supposed to be done.

Now I am not about to cosign Michael Eric Dyson across the board. As much as I admire him, I find him to be rather self-congratulatory and needlessly verbose (yes...that WOULD make me the pot calling the kettle black). That said...you cannot really ignore what he is saying.

Trapped by a news avalanche

2007-04-17T08:33:00.000-05:00

Hot on the heels of NappyHeadedHo-gate, I was all set to get up Monday and write all about my sojourn to my first NASCAR race.

Let me first state my condolences to the entire Virginia Tech Campus.

So much of the perception of colleges and universities is wrapped up in college athletics. As Virginia Tech is a football powerhouse, albeit a relatively new one, I do think the spotlight shines brighter on those schools.

But that is not the issue today.

The sheer volume of the event overwhelms EVERYTHING.

it overwhelms NHHogate, Alberto Gonzales(whose Congressional hearing will be postponed)

As for me, I shall be sitting quietly until the whole truth comes out.

In our quest to get to the truth first, many lies get told.

A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes -Either Mark Twain or Charles Spurgeon

The not so thin line between not guilty and innocent

2007-04-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

So...all the charges get dropped.

The charges don't even hit the floor before (edit: I am NOT going to participate in the naming of her name) becomes a household word.

Her picture is GIFed and plastered all over the internet.

Dont believe me...Google it.

Oh I don't have to tell you her name...just GOOGLE something in reference to Duke Lacrosse, and look for a woman's name.

Heck...I found a about college lacrosse...with her name in the title.

Huh?

Please do not misunderstand, I have a limited...very limited degree of sympathy for the Duke Lacrosse team.

Being falsely accused sucks.

of course, being terrorized while doing a job isn't very much fun either.

Lying and embellishing was not the way to handle it.

This woman's life is doomed.

Mike Nifong staked his career on this case.

He bet BIG on Black...and lost bigger than he could have imagined.

I am bothered moreso by the reaction of the Duke LAX supporters.

INNOCENT? notsomuch

NOT GUILTY??? definitely.

You will never get me to understand what drove this woman to do what she did.

None of you will either.

But you cannot get me to believe that those boys are blamless in this.

Never. Ever.

She is guilty of lying.

They are NOT guilty of rape

They are INNOCENT of nothing.

The very forces that drove this girl to do what she did are the forces that spared NO expense in drenching her name with mud the second it became legal to do so.

Innocent? Please.

I am disgusted.

The 24 hour news cycle is a MOFO.

Don Imus' TV career couldn't even get a proper burial before folk moved on to greener...Blacker pastures.

Hello, I Must Be Going

2007-04-11T08:03:00.000-05:00

Just got back from seeing the babies in Pittsburgh. Whole lotta stuff going on now.

Ill be back to holla soon.

Eddie Robinson, RIP

2007-04-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

A legend has fallen.

The man STARTED coaching before the invention of the Television.

When he retired, The United States was on their eleventh president since he was hired.

His record:

408-165-15

The legacy:

That the black man can not only play football, he can coach it and lead men as well.

You have toiled long and hard, Mr. Robinson. It is now time for you to rest.

Weird Al Yankovic = G.O.A.T

2007-03-29T14:46:00.000-05:00

Bow before the throne, suckas.

Weird Al Yankovic. Greatest Of All Time.

If Karl Rove wants to rap, OK...BUT

2007-03-29T08:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, If you hang with this long enough, you will see Karl Rove in full B-Boy mode.

This is the edited for FOXNews version

For a second, I was bothered by this. But then something much, much more insidious caught my attention.

The Black man in the back ground dancing.

Black Republicans are alright with me. What ideology you practice in your heart of hearts does not matter a whit to me.

WHAT DOES matter...is when white folk get in their lil brains that they wanna do foolishness like that is that YOU, as a Black man, your political leanings notwithstanding, need to get yourself scarce.

This Black man....needs to be pulled aside by a relative and explained how bad of a look this is, because clearly he is not aware.

The Monday Menagerie

2007-03-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

I got more balls in the air today than fourteen jugglers with ADHD.

This weekend was interesting.

I saw Reign Over Me Saturday night. It was phenomenal and thought provoking.

After a rough start, I emerged last night with three of the Final Four in my bracket.

Let the world of college Basketball cower in fear...It's Morning in Georgetown.

Barack Obama finally made what amounts to a mistake in my estimation.

I am reading a fabulous new book that I will review here when I finish it.

Permission to revise and extend my remarks.

Friday Quickies

2007-03-23T08:29:00.000-05:00

Why is Swizz Beats rapping?
I like John Edwards...more than I care to admit usually. I wish his wife well. I also think he will probably have to withdraw down the road.
I never wished it would rain as much as I have since I have bought my house. Rain= less watering of the lawn myself=lower water bill.
After a horrible start, my brackets still aren't too bad.
I didn't really have much to say, but I didn't want to go without posting

Functional Literacy and You

2007-03-20T21:05:00.000-05:00

I am not usually a CNN watcher. When news breaks I tend to move towards MSNBC, for reasons that usually stem from a general mistrust of CNN.

But after DVRing Barack Obama on Larry King last night the TV just happened to still be on CNN when I saw Paula Zahn and Wolf Blitzer (whose real name is Wolf Blitzer...go figure) agonizing over the fact that 1/3 of Washington, DC residents a functionally illiterate.

Tragedy, I agree.

Then Paula Zahn makes a breathless announcement that her upcoming show will be focusing on illiteracy and...

*allows dramatic fanfare to rise*

"Black men are killing Black men and no one is making a big stink about it in the press."

So, through the magic of niche teasing...I have been sucked in.

and for the first time ever, I have postponed my daily appointment with Keith Olbermann for Paula Zahn.

What was I THINKING?

Paula Zahn launches into this tragic story about ADULT literacy rates in Washington, DC only to focus her panel on: how bad the SCHOOLS ARE???

Now, I understand how important it is to meet your "bashing of urban public schools" quota, but this story is primarily about old people and immigrants who cannot read.

I would get into the straw man and red herring convention that ensued, but it wasn't that deep.

Then comes the "Color of Murder", which wonder of wonders....is Black

Now if you KNOW me, you would know that I generally do not approve of Black men killing Black men. As the father of two boys, it doesn't make me happy at all.

Seeing CNN make hay out of it...sloppily, at that, doesn't make me any happier.

What really irritates me about this piece is that the primary statistic used was:

93% of Black men are killed by other Black men.

Well, DUH?

I'm not Watching CNN again until they do a story on ME.

Or it turns into all Soledad O'Brien all the time.

Barack Obama: Magic Negro?

2007-03-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

My favorite Librarian exposed me to the term "Magical Negro" about 4 years ago. She and I would muse about it every now and then and chuckle heartily at the ways of white folk.

I wasn't deluded into thinking that she and I had cornered the market on such talk, I would bump into it now and then, whenever some other "hip, edgy" person would use it to cornerstone an article about how pitiful the roles available to Black men are.

You can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across an article that asserts that the latest Black man to inhabit the role of Magical Negro was one Barack Obama.

In the article, David Ehrenstein, basically says that Senator Obama is the very embodiment of the "magical Negro"

But the same can't be said of most white Americans, whose desire for a noble, healing Negro hasn't faded. That's where Obama comes in...

The senator's famously stem-winding stump speeches have been drawing huge crowds to hear him talk of uniting rather than dividing. A praiseworthy goal. Consequently, even the mild criticisms thrown his way have been waved away, "magically." He used to smoke, but now he doesn't; he racked up a bunch of delinquent parking tickets, but he paid them all back with an apology. And hey, is looking good in a bathing suit a bad thing?

The only mud that momentarily stuck was criticism (white and black alike) concerning Obama's alleged "inauthenticty," as compared to such sterling examples of "genuine" blackness as Al Sharpton and Snoop Dogg. Speaking as an African American whose last name has led to his racial "credentials" being challenged — often several times a day — I know how pesky this sort of thing can be.

Obama's fame right now has little to do with his political record or what he's written in his two (count 'em) books, or even what he's actually said in those stem-winders. It's the way he's said it that counts the most. It's his manner, which, as presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden ham-fistedly reminded us, is "articulate." His tone is always genial, his voice warm and unthreatening, and he hasn't called his opponents names (despite being baited by the media).

Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him.

Like others before him, Mr. Ehrenstein has mistaken the suffocating fame of a presidential candidacy with some sort of plaintive cry for a hero.

A little cursory research of Mr. Ehrenstein shows he knows a good bit about Movies and gay folk(not that there's anything wrong with that) The wonders of political news coverage? Notsomuch, it appears.

Barack Obama is "That Dude" right now. Is it by his design? No.

That Dude - a person who ascends
to the ultimate level of fame
and acceptance.

You don't run for "that Dude". Either you get to be That Dude, or you don't

Barack Obama is NOT the presumptive Democratic Nominee. In fact, he has not even thrust the race into question.

But he is THE political star of this election cycle.

But that is ALL he is.

He is not a savior. He is an attractive Presidential Candidate.

He is the 2007 version of Howard Dean.

But more attractive
and more Likable
and better on the microphone
and his wife is more engaged in the campaign
and his crowds are bigger....lots bigger.

Even with all that, and I am a FAN...he is not the be all end all politically.

He is as different as you can be and be a viable presidential candidate in the 21st century.

Is he as special and unique as the media makes him out to be?
Is he as special and unique as his own campaign makes him out to be?

Don't be stupid.

Was Anna Nicole Smith as special and unique as the media made HER out to be?

Exactly.
yeah, yeah, rest in peace, too.

Barack Obama is running a campaign uniquely suited for his strengths. He is not benefiting from any exceptional media treatment. (parking tickets, how black is he, he got a good deal on his house, he played the stock market badly, Al Sharpton doesn't like him, he was a muslim as a first grader, he's too new, he loves the Jews, he hates the Jews...you get the picture)

He has an excited base of support, people who believe in what he is saying. People who are probably tired of 7 years of what we've BEEN getting and anxious for something DIFFERENT.

Yes, different from the eight years before that, too.

This is normal.

It's so normal a doctor from Vermont with a penchant for screaming and hollering at all the wrong times garnered a similar amount of momentum at this point in the campaign just four years ago.

I didn't recall anyone calling Howard Dean the Magical Cracker....although someone may have.

Barack Obama is calling for a different kind of politics, and I respect that. But until that different kind of politics arrives, he will be playing the same game as everyone else.

I respect that, even more.

Read between the lines, folks.

He wants to GOVERN differently.

But he wants to WIN first.

Whatever the case, Barack Obama is hardly Will Smith teaching Matt Damon how to play Golf.

Barack Obama may be a Negro...
He may even have a magical way about himself on stage...
Barack Obama is no Magical Negro.

If he WINS?

He will have a different title.

HNIC

These are the times that try men's souls

2007-03-18T22:17:00.000-05:00

THESE are the times that try men's souls. -Thomas Paine, The Crisis December 23, 1776

Thomas Paine's words ring as true now as ever.

We live today in a bizarre tyranny. A tyranny not simply of our elected officials, but of a hodgepodge of powers from without and within. We are slaves, not in the chattel sense, but in the sense that we appear to lack the freedom to move against the grain.

The conformity of the 50s gave way to the revolutionary mindset of the 60s, freeing many of us from the formal chains of years gone by.

The 70s and 80s created a mindset that valued the individual above all and encouraged each of us to reach as far as our pocketbooks and wallets would allow.

The 90s exposed us to the glories of a new revolution in technology and accelerated the speed of life.

The new century began with promise of continued freedom and self-absorption.

Then one day it changed for all of us.

People use 9/11 as a marking point, much like the birth of Christ. Where you were physically and mentally on that day will go a long way in explaining what that day did to you. How you respond to the challenges that this country faces today, based on that series of events, is shaped by what changes your life took based on the power of that event.

I dare not try to speak for you, I can only speak for me.

That day scared me, but only to the extent that my personal proximity was such that it was impossible to ignore. My life and job placed me in harm's way, so the specifics of the event made it possible to play the "what-if?" game. The political climate that followed made my dream job obsolete and took me off the track I had stumbled upon, initially but ultimately embraced.

Five and a half years later, the souls of men are still being tried, but the forces at work are not the ones you think.

The tyranny of Thomas Paine's day had a clear face and a clear agenda. Today, we face no such luxury.

I submit to you that the forces of tyranny that plague our existence are largely of our own doing.

In restarting this blog, I spent a few weeks pondering just WHY I felt this blog was necessary. I mean, it isn't like I don't have a book to write, college credits to amass, a wife to love and kids to raise. Time to write isn't exactly burning a hole in my pocketwatch.

Tyranny is heavy on my mind today, but I don't know why.

I keep looking for the tyrannical boogieman and I cannot find him.

I cannot find him in the White House, the State House, or even the corner office downtown.
He is not lurking on the corner...any corner.

The Tyrant is in our mirror, boys and girls.

We are our own oppressors.

We stand idly by and allow our lives to be spoon-fed to us.

We never act, we only react.

We dodge and parry and thrust in an effort to avoid being run over by our own train of thought, never pausing to think that if we would just get on BOARD, maybe we could get somewhere.

But it is so much easier to rely on the thoughts of others.

My job is to inspire your thoughts by clinging to the ability to put mine into words.

Happy Ides of March!!!

2007-03-14T22:36:00.000-05:00

Don't worry where I'm at or where I been I'm here now and I'm bangin
Ya'll N----- softer than the Queen a England (c) Murray, Keith

Walks back into blog singing...

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"

For Sports fans, Today is truly one of the greatest days of the year.

From 11am until around about midnight for the next two days...there will be wall to wall basketball. Ive made my picks....and if you are absolutely crazy...you will follow along with me.

The Midwest Bracket.

Home of the defending champ(Florida), everyone's favorite Cinderella candidates (Winthrop, Old Dominion and Davidson) and the OTHER Texas A&M.

I am following chalk with the exception of
Old Dominion over Butler
Winthrop over Notre Dame
Georgia Tech over UNLV

I then have ODU shocking Maryland and tiptoeing into St. Louis in their glass slippers...and right into a good hard slap from Florida.

Wisconsin takes out Oregon to earn the right to give Florida a good go before succumbing to the Gators.

MIDWEST: Florida

The West Bracket

This is the UCLA and their California tour bracket. UCLA Starts in Sacramento and then rolls down the street to San Jose, so I pretty much rubber stamped them into the final four.

I do have Gonzaga over Indiana and Virginia Tech over Southern Illinois in the second round..but otherwise..its chalk city.

WEST: UCLA

The East Bracket

Everyone outside of Texas has Georgetown vs. North Carolina circled on their bracket. I, despite my fascination with Kevin Durant, have the Horns going home against New Mexico State. I also embrace my secret embrace of all things Bobby Knight by picking them over Big East rejects Boston College. I take Vanderbilt over Washington State in the second round setting them up for a beating by Georgetown.

Georgetown then nips North Carolina in yet ANOTHER classic in East Rutherford.

See: Kentucky vs. Duke
See: UConn vs.

EAST: Georgetown

South Bracket

A few great teams and a bunch of question marks.

Louisville starts off up the street in Lexington? So what, I have them going out to Stanford.

As much as I wanted to take North Texas over Memphis...I couldn't do it. But DO NOT be surprised if the mean green make it happen. The Aggies will get them instead in San Antonio.

And then Acie will "lay the law down" and send the Buckeyes home to get to the IV.

South: Texas A&M

Georgetown over Texas A&M
and
Florida over UCLA

and Florida over Georgetown gives the Gators a rare TwoFer

TWO basketball championships in a row and Football and men's basketball in the same year.

and then we get to see Noah do that crazy dance again.

Happy Monday

2007-01-08T08:02:00.000-06:00

I feel pretty good for a Monday. There are Lamb Chops marinating in the refrigerator for my Gourmet Monday Dinner,

Monday 1/7 Menu
Carmelized Lamb Chops
Sauteed Spinach
Mushroom Mashed Potatoes

Florida vs. Ohio State awaits for tonight in the ONE college football game I can actually get Mrs. DaveyWayne to watch.

FEARLESS PREDICTION: (record 3-1)
Ohio State 27
Florida 17

There is change in the air. A prospective move to the wonderful world of Corporate America has me contemplating blogging in a more anonymous fashion. Be on the lookout...if the change comes, it will be swift certain and final.

I will never truly vanish from blogging again, but I will one day end up harder to find.

In the meantime, I pour out a little bit for the good folks who live and die with the Dallas Cowboys. I would wish that kind of loss on no one.

Beyond that, I got nothing.

See me tomorrow.

Fearless Playoff Predictions

2007-01-06T08:07:00.000-06:00

So, with the playoffs here...and no sentimental favorite, allow me to be impartial and speak on the issues.

Kansas City @ Indianapolis - Expect lots of points, and lots of gushing about Larry Johnson and Peyton Manning. Kansas City has finished strong, but I think they may be overmatched in this one. LJ would need to get 200 for the Chiefs to have a chance. As bad as the Colts defense is, he JUST might. As long as the Chiefs dont get up early, forcing Peyton to press late, this one should be winnable for the Colts.

37-27 COLTS

Dallas @ Seattle - For the sake of the Dallas Mavericks, please allow the Cowboys to exit the playoffs tonight. The Mavericks have won 12 and 13 games in a row this year, so it is patently UNFAIR for them to be banished to the inner sports section while Dallas/Fort Worth babbles on and on incessantly about the Cowboys. They are just NOT that good. Not that anyone else is, either, but please please stop thinking that just because they have a star on their helmet, they are supposed to win. This team is frequently guilty of mailing it in, thinking they are better than they really are. They lack focus particularly on Defense and it exposes them all the time. Seattle is beat up, especially in the secondary, but they are REALLY hard to beat in Seattle. Romo could light it up and pull it out for them, but Dallas has been stinking it up all month, so it takes a certain amount of faith to believe they will play better tonight. They aren't my team, so I lack that faith.

31-24 Seahawks (GO MAVERICKS)

Elephant? What Elephant?

2007-01-05T15:06:00.000-06:00

Rocky Mountain News Columnist Dave Kreiger spoke on the Elephant in the Room regarding the Darrent Williams murder. Sample a tidbit, if you will.

When we contemplate the evident danger level for high-profile athletes out on the town, we are talking, in the main, about young African-American athletes.

And we are talking about a hip-hop culture that through music and movies and other media glorifies killing. Bustin' a cap is such a ubiquitous expression it is now part of the lexicon.

Hip-hop is also big business. Lots of people make lots of money in it, which gives lots of people a vested interest in keeping the invective flowing.

Yeah, yeah, I know, he's right.

So what.

Clearly, Dave Kreiger has NO chance of making any headway in this discussion.

Frankly, neither do I.

But the reality is, as much as I love HipHop, it is probably time to start acknowledging that it can no longer plead innocence...

At some point it is time to start getting to the ongoing chicken and egg debate.

Does society make HipHop violent?

Or is HipHop making Society more violent?

I have always been a resident of the Art imitates life camp.

As I get older and as I grow more pragmatic and less theoretical, I am starting to believe that society is taking its cues from Art.

We have arrived at a point where parents have abdicated their responsibility. Society has lionized the Culture and allowed folk to run rampant and just do and say whatever they want.

Am I calling for censorship?

Nope.

I am calling for responsibility.

I am calling for Art to stand up and be accountable.

I am calling for more songs to address the true cost of gunfire.

Gun Draws - Pharoahe Monch

And the truly confounding thing is that this video will never see the light of day because...it is too violent?

Go figure.

Good Bye, Bill, and thank you.

2007-01-05T08:15:00.000-06:00

In my lifetime as a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, I have known TWO head coaches.

Chuck Noll.

Bill Cowher.

None of you other pro football fans can say anything like that.

Bill Cowher was not a perfect coach, as there is no such species, but he was clearly among the best to ever do so.

More importantly, in a world where Cash rules everything around us (Wu-Tang Clan, 1994), Bill stepped down because of family. Sure, folk are yammering about how he wanted to stick up the Rooneys for more than the 4.7 mill he was getting but let's be real here. he coulda pocketed the 4.7 mill and just laid in the cut for the last year of his contract and then the Rooneys would have given him whatever is necessary to keep him. Or he would have gotten it from someone else. Either way, that's a net gain of 4.7 mil.

People who are about the cash don't walk out on that kinda money.

Bill was just tired.

Mrs. Cowher embraced her inner Pittsburgher and went south for the winter...and spring, summer and fall to boot.

She built her family a 2.5 million dollar house in Raleigh, NC and said...

ok 15 years of this foolishness is long enough...YOU can stay here and coach forever, but IM going back to North Carolina and taking our baby daughter with me. You can commute or you can quit, I love you either way, but I ain't stayin.

He isn't burned out, he misses his family.

And I ain't mad at him.

Bring on Coach #3.

And other football fans...tell your owers to save their pennies, for Cowher Powher will return to a team near you...

for the right price...

because when he DOES come back, it WILL be in part about the money.

When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong

2007-01-03T18:22:00.000-06:00

So I was sitting in the Airport contemplating life in the year 2007 when I saw the following headline underneath a shot of a Hummer Stretch Limosuine.

Denver Broncos Player Killed

My initial thought was exactly correct.

"Uh oh, some fool done gone and shot a football player."

When I found out who it was, I was sorely disappointed.

Darrent Williams attended OD Wyatt High School in Fort Worth, TX, about 20 minutes from my house. Needless to say, hearts are quite heavy around these parts.

Me, I am equal parts saddened and just plain irritated.

Irritated?

Yes, I am irritated.

I am sick and tired of this.

You respect the one who got shot, I respect the Shooter... -Jay-Z

Jay, Shut up.

There ain't no silver lining to be had. Darrent Williams was TWENTY FOUR YEARS OLD. He had a CHILD.

There is no excuse for this.

And in this environment one thing keeps bothering me, one thing remains to be the source of my irritation.

I am not surprised by this.

All the dots to make this every bit the same ole typical BS are out there.

Take some successful young black men,
add some floss and some Hiphop
mix into a club with somewhat less successful young black men
add jealousy, bullets and firearms and stir liberally.

In a different world, People can just rent a limo and go clubbing to celebrate (don't know how they could be in the mood to celebrate losing a home game but THAT is neither here nor there.) It ain't been that way for young black men in a good while.

At this point in the news cycle...all that is left is the dirt.

We do not know what caused this tragedy. Of course the possibilities are endless.

No reason could justify raining down bullets on a Limousine.

Why aren't we outraged like we were when Sean Bell was shot and killed in Queens?

We do we sit by idly and watch our own eat our own.

Sure, you're sad.

You feel bad.

But what are you going to DO?

It has been a couple of days and no one has come forward.

What are y'all waiting for.

SOMEONE knows something. Someone ALWAYS knows something.

They know whose Tahoe it was (and a REAL winner the car-owner is)

And still...nothing.

Stop snitching my ass.

My kingdom for a snitch.

RIP, Darrent Williams...

Clicking My Heels

2007-01-02T22:39:00.000-06:00

Say it with me,

There's no place like home, there 's no place like home.

I didn't don the red heels; that isn't how I roll, nor would they complement my Steelers Away jersey and yellow Nautica fleece pull over.

But the good folk at ValuJet 2.0, after stranding FW in Atlanta on THREE separate occasions in 2005, stepped their game up big-time, providing timely and reasonably pain-free service with a nice bonus of XM radio, which almost made up for the fact that we were both pretty crammed into our seats.

Ah well, you get what you pay for.

I have developed a tolerance for Pittsburgh that lasts about 4-5 days. It should be noted that I love my hometown and I relish the fact that my mother's insistence on living there gives me a convenient way to enjoy it on my own terms. When I want to experience the raw, uncut Pittsburgh, I can sit in traffic on the Parkway East or hike the hills and mountains in between pricey bus rides and bask in that persistent nostalgia that defines a city that relishes moving at its own pace. For the moment that took a back seat. This wasn't a tourist jaunt. This was about one thing:

Family Blending.

I almost live two lives.

I live one life as fiance' and husband-to-be and one life as ex-husband and father. As I have only one life to live, merging these lives is imperative as the march to matrimony continues and moves towards its climax.

Well after a week with the people most important to me all under one roof, let me say. God is good. (all the time)

Watching my sons and FW interact only reinforced how perfect and omniscient God is. Returning to Pittsburgh and sleeping on the beat down sofabed that occupies my mother's living room knees and elbows firmly and lovingly planted from every angle, I stared into the ceiling I knew all too well from months of insomnia fueled ceiling gazing not too long ago and said a prayer of thanksgiving.

I understood hows and whys that had been befuddling me for years.

And a scripture popped into my head.

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. -2 Chronicles 7:14

But wait, you say....weren't you a grade A ass this year?

Didn't you screw up not ONE but TWO wedding dates this year?

Haven't you put a GREAT deal of effort in frittering away a PERFECTLY wonderful relationship in favor of....something so absurd you cannot bear to type it out?

Haven't you been THIS close to being told to pack up all your worldly belongings in your cute little DaveyWaynemobile and drive your net-famous ass northeast once and for all?

Yes....on all counts.

So, I reiterate...God is indeed Good.

Even when we put great, great effort in Sucking.

And THAT, is why 2007 must be different.

and different it shall be.

Live from the Cerebral Vortex, I remain, Davey Wayne Parrish, Jr.

These are my thoughts...

Greetings from Pittsburgh

2006-12-27T10:57:00.000-06:00

I bring you belated Holiday Greetings and Current Kwaanza wishes from beautiful Western Pennsylvania.

FW and I and the babies are all relaxing and releasing in my mother's house.

I will be back in TX to open the new year properly here on the blog on the first of the year.

I mostly just came over here to pour a little out for James Brown and Gerald Ford (for entirely different reasons.)

The hardest working man in show business will finally get his rest and the accidental President is still the only US president I actually had a real conversation with, so he will always have a place in my heart, since he was pretty cool whenever we spoke.

Rest well Gentlemen and happy new year to all ther rest of you.

2006 in one word

2006-12-19T20:49:00.000-06:00

It has been a year. A year that just makes you wanna cuss.

It was tricks like that, that made me Time Magazine person of the year. and for THAT, I am truly grateful.

Many people think the whole Time magazine POTY thing was a cop-out.

I disagree.

It was a cop...but not a cop-out.

Time Magazine is publicly admitting what the media has long feared.

The monster it created has gotten out of control and taken over.

No longer do we HAVE to sit and wait to be spoonfed what it is the media wants for us to believe. Some of us...many of us, even...choose to remain spoonfed, but NOW that is a choice that we get to make.

Going into 2007, the rules are different.

WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY different.

There is NO escape.

So, you're a washed up sitcom star who can't seem to get it together and you find yourself tanking onstage and think you wanna drop a few N-bombs on stage and no one will find out? Hell toda Naw.

So, you're a rising star Senator of a bellwether state and you think you can toss around a few archane pejoratives against a person of colorand then roll on to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Not so much.

So, you think just because you are either a washed up sitcom star, an up and coming but not necessarily sexy tv star or a washed up boy band member, you can run around gay and not tell anyone? Uh....no.

So, you think you can chasedown teenage boys for several years as a congressman while simultaneously championing laws against pedophilia? GTFOHWTBS

Yup, 2006 was the year all the dirt came out...if you dont believe me, ask the Repbulican Party.

stumbling and bumbling towards the finish line

2006-12-18T00:02:00.000-06:00

It has been a year for the ages. Then again, all years, ultimately round out like that.

As for me, It has been an experience.

I have laughed and cried quite a bit this year.

Tonight I am doing a fair bit of both.

Tomorrow, we try and write again.

In the meantime, the world keeps spinning and the Fools keep grinning.

Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss

2006-12-13T07:19:00.000-06:00

I have two jobs and I am still unemployed.

Oh, sure I got somewhere to go, and they even pay me.

But the future is bleak.

The great rugrat ranch experiment will go on, but without me.
This runaway slave visits the plantation, but they got no hold on me. I's a sharecropper, now.

And now, we dust off the old resume and get out there to go and get it.

IN light of that, writing about much of anything else, just seems uncivilized.

I'll come back to comment on the world's foolishness later.

HipHop Isn't dead, just ask Lupe Fiasco

2006-12-09T23:36:00.000-06:00

The next person who tries to tell me HipHop is dead should be made to watch Lupe Fiasco's AOL Sessions.

This is proof that HipHop has a pulse. It clearly has some serious issues going on upstairs, but it cannot be dead.

Even as the Now generation seems to be hell bent on disrespecting every rap legend not already gone on to HipHop heaven, quality music still gets made and the industry moves on. HipHop has turned into the brother that came back from the war all messed up in the head. He has some good days, and some bad days. You know he ain't all there, but at least two or three times a week, he says or does something that reminds you why you love him so much. Of course, then he will go and drink up all the koolaid and not make anymore, or steal from Mama, and you gotta put his ass in time-out again...

But that passes and before you know it, you are back laughing at his simple jokes and hitting him off with a 10 or a 20 when no one is looking so he won't go and do something stupid.

But he always does.

Cause something still ain't right.

That's life.

On Naked Houses and the obligations of homeownership

2006-12-08T23:34:00.000-06:00

My house will be naked this year. No lights, no tree, just one fabulous, yet to be purchased wreath.

FW and I will be flying to Pittsburgh on Christmas night to celebrate the holidays with my Pittsburgh based family, including DaveyWayne 3.0 and 3.1. IN consideration of that, we have decided to forgo extraneous decarations. Then again, having a 78 dollar electric bill for a 2K+ sq. foot house is not something you poo poo in the interest of peace on earth and good will towards men.

So, in case Bill O'Reilly is reading, I celebrate Christmas, I just don't feel the need to climb on top of my house to do it.

Merry Christmas, Mofo.

The Story of Doris Miller

2006-12-07T08:37:00.000-06:00

On today, December 7, 2006, exactly 65 years after Pearl Harbor, we honor Doris Miller

Taken from The Navy Website
Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. While attending Moore High School in Waco, he was a fullback on the football team. He worked on his father's farm before enlisting in the U.S Navy as Mess Attendant, Third Class, at Dallas, Texas, on 16 September 1939, to travel, and earn money for his family. He later was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, was advanced to Mess Attendant, Second Class and First Class, and subsequently was promoted to Ship's Cook, Third Class.

Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess Attendant, and on 2 January 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. In July of that year he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to West Virginia and on 3 August, and was serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Miller had arisen at 6 a.m., and was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters sounded. He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it, so he went on deck. Because of his physical prowess, he was assigned to carry wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. Then an officer ordered him to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded Captain of the ship. He subsequently manned a 50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship.

Miller described firing the machine gun during the battle, a weapon which he had not been trained to operate: "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us."

During the attack, Japanese aircraft dropped two armored piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes into her port side. Heavily damaged by the ensuing explosions, and suffering from severe flooding below decks, the crew abandoned ship while West Virginia slowly settled to the harbor bottom. Of the 1,541 men on West Virginia during the attack, 130 were killed and 52 wounded. Subsequently refloated, repaired, and modernized, the battleship served in the Pacific theater through to the end of the war in August 1945.

Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked:

This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts.

On 13 December 1941, Miller reported to USS Indianapolis (CA-35), and subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States in November 1942. Assigned to the newly constructed USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) in the spring of 1943, Miller was on board that escort carrier during Operation Galvanic, the seizure of Makin and Tarawa Atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Liscome Bay's aircraft supported operations ashore between 20-23 November 1943. At 5:10 a.m. on 24 November, while cruising near Butaritari Island, a single torpedo from Japanese submarine I-175 struck the escort carrier near the stern. The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, sinking the warship within minutes. Listed as missing following the loss of that escort carrier, Miller was officially presumed dead 25 November 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. Only 272 Sailors survived the sinking of Liscome Bay, while 646 died.

In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.

Commissioned on 30 June 1973, USS Miller (FF-1091), a Knox-class frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller.

On 11 October 1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority dedicated a bronze commemorative plaque of Miller at the Miller Family Park located on the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor.

This world isn't very real at all.

2006-12-06T22:15:00.000-06:00

Clearly, the word Nigger is making a late push to be the word of the year.

So...The gay white Christian dude on the Real World drops the N-bomb on a 280 lb black dude from Nebraska AFTER grabbing him all about the face, and does not meet his maker.

So, TWO white men have uttered the N-word Publicly and lived to tell the tale. Not only lived, but have gone on to receive public forgiveness and endorsement of one kind or another.

THIS is not a good sign.

We need a white man to catch an ass kicking after uttering the N-word on camera.
We need a black man to catch a case for providing said ass kicking.

If this keeps up, soon white folk are going to assume it's possible in the real world to go around dropping N-bombs with no real impunity.

And someone is going to get killed.

Brothas are catching hell all over the world.

They are bound to snap soon.

Do your public duty and remind all your white friends not to believe the hype.

Dropping N-Bombs WILL earn you a spectacular ass whoopin.

Thank you in advance for doing your minimize the obvious fallout.

Tomorrow I will comment on how easy it seems to be to forgive what used to be unforgivable.

I am all N-d out now.

2006-12-06T07:47:00.000-06:00

First, props to Wise for putting this on blast.

Now...

In light of....

Blah.

I refuse to give this garbage a warm and fuzzy intro.

John Ridley wrote an essay on Niggers vs. Black People. It borders on offensive. No, it IS offensive, it is just that regard I have (had?) for him allowed me to briefly (I am thinking it was about 8 minutes from the time I threw it on the floor and the time I picked it up to play Jordan vs. Blazers in Game one of the 1992 NBA Finals )

Because of my humble upbringings, I bristle at the notion of differentiating Black Folk from Niggers(-az,-as, whatever) because the first time I or someone I love ends up on the wrong side of the argument, I am gonna be furious.

He wasn't even talking about me and I was furious.

It is not a poorly written essay. Ridley is a good writer and it shows.

What is slightly less clear, is what prompted him to use an incident with police shooting an unarmed black man on one side and GOP foreign policy on the other.

If the man is still in possession of any racial integrity, he must be hating life right now.

I am sure he didn't mean to at the time, but he managed to crystallize the lives and times of black folk in America in 2006. Rulers and conquerors on one side...cannon fodder on the other.

Funny thing is most of the rest of us are in the middle. Or ARE we?

I'm thinking that most of us are actually closer to cannon fodder than we are to Rulers and conquerors.

Mr. Ridley seemed to have left that part out.

One question seems to nag at me about this seemingly obvious hack job.

Is this part of Ridley's descent into the deep dark recesses of of the Black Right movement?

(Sidebar: watching Sanaa Lathan on Nip/Tuck makes paying my Dish/phone/DSL bill just a little bit less painful. Sure shes catching it from a white guy, but at least he is a cool white guy.)

My Crush Speaks most of the Truth: Jemele Hill on Larry Johnson

2006-12-05T09:30:00.000-06:00

Yes, I have been called a stalker of Jemele Hill.

The "stalking" continues today, as Ms. Hill hits another one out of the park.

The backstory is that Larry Johnson asserted that he has a better relationship because he has a Black Coach(Herm Edwards)

Hill deems him a studio-gangster, holding his hood credibility in question, citing his stable two-parent upbringing in a suburban neighborhood.

While my crush propels me to trumpet her skills to the hills and co-sign, to a large extent, what she is saying, I must object to a few things.

she takes exception with this:

"They hadn't been in a situation as a young, black athlete and know what we had to go through when we go out," Johnson told interviewer Cris Carter about the previous coaching staff under Dick Vermeil. "We like to go out. We like to have fun, but then you have to worry about the guy around the corner with the gun. You've got to worry about this girl on the block. You've got to worry about your parents, your homeboys taking advantage of you. So many things you have to worry about being a young, black athlete. And to be able to have a father like mine and a coach like Herm, I was able to escape a lot of those realities and find myself in a new ray of light."

By retorting as such:

Not to belittle Johnson's experiences as a young, black male -- because I'm sure it was tough growing up in a two-parent, suburban household and playing at Penn State, where his father was the defensive line coach -- but why is Johnson trying to act like he has a 'hood pass when he's more Will Smith than Tupac? His comments were childish, but Johnson made things worse by irresponsibly suggesting black coaches are better-suited to handle African-American players. I don't know of any coach -- black, red or green -- who could have coached Lawrence Taylor better than Bill Parcells.

As much as it pains me, my attraction to Ms. Hill (as a writer and estrogen-fueled sports mind) does not prevent me from pointing out what I believe to be a slight flaw in her logic.

While Mr. Johnson's pedigree and mine are quite opposite(Him: two-parent, suburban household and playing at Penn State/ Mine: largely single parent, inner city slum[well Y'ALL would call it a slum because of what it looks like now, I call it solidly working class], HBCU dropout) our attitudes tend to be directly opposed, as though I have his pedigree and he, mine.

That is a product not of any studio gangsterism, but a product of a certain attitude which lends to a general presumption that "THEY" do not understand how we have it; that they could never understand what it is "WE" think and how "WE" work best. This is the attitude that prevails in our culture, a culture that portrays all black men as complex and misunderstood. (Black male) Athletes and Entertainers especially enjoy a lifetime pass from responsibility for accepting authority from on the grounds that the powers that be do not except them for who they are.

Sigh.

The reality is that GOOD coaches on all levels, of any race make a point of understanding the uniqueness of the Black Male, almost because of the fact that they make up a large percentage of the workforce. My quibble with the divine Ms. Hill is not in her conclusion but in her determinance of Mr. Johnson as some sort of fraud by tossing out the race card with the pedigree he has, as though if he had an upbringing more like mine, it would be more understandable.

It is my assertion that Mr. Johnson is not so much a fraud as he is a victim of the same malady that afflicts many people in his position. The fact that he was used to being the be-all-end-all and living a charmed life, due to his upbringing and his prodigious talent.

He, like Chris Webber and many others, internalize the broader struggle of the young black male, not for fraudulent reasons, but for the same reasons that innocent black honor students can find themselves lumped into the same category with hardened criminals when faced by the police.

We are all the same to THEM, so we must all BE the same.

This is the unfortunate byproduct of the Black culture insistence on the cookie-cutter black man, a culture that values style over substance(I dig both, but thats irrelevant). This culture insists that all brothers embrace "the struggle".

The struggle is real, I feel it everyday. The reality is, there is a significant portion of the Black male population that does not. Their struggle is significant, but different. They need to focus on THAT struggle and stop embracing one that is not relevant to them. It confuses the hell out of white folk and only makes all this being Black in America thing more complicated.

Word For The Week

2006-12-03T07:31:00.000-06:00

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."

When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
'though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.'

"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Luke 8:4-15

It has been shown that 75% of all Christians accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior before the age of 21, 90% before the age of 30, so why is it that the overwhelming majority of Christian evangelism targets people over the age of 30? The answer is simple, really - people reach out to their perceived peers, but in most of our cases our peers are quite comfortable on their rocky ground. We are certainly required to share the good news of Jesus Christ with whosoever will hear the word of reconciliation, but we need to focus our attention on the good ground, ground that is ready, willing, and able to receive the word of truth. Scattering seed on concrete is good for feeding the birds, but it would be foolish to expect a harvest from such seeds. Besides, we are called to resist such birds, erecting scarecrows to keep the birds at bay instead off feeding those who seek to steal, kill, and destroy the fruit of our labor.

All too often we stand along the sidewalk spreading seed and wonder why nothing's growing. All too often we walk along the pavement pointlessly searching for some simple sign of life. All too often we think that God is not blessing our labor when in fact we are being irresponsible with the seed that has been entrusted to us. We shouldn't expect a harvest when we haven't sown seed into ground that can actually support new life. We shouldn't expect to see people coming to Christ when we are spreading seed among those who are firm in their convictions that any road they choose will get them to eternity. Jesus made us fishers of men but we shouldn't expect to catch anything by dropping a net into a cup of water.

Although with God all things are possible.

What Jesus teaches in our text today is that different people will receive the word of life differently, some gladly for the moment, some happily but with no substance, some fully, and some not at all. We who have been entrusted with the message of reconciliation - "we" being all Christians - must be wise regarding how and where we sow our seed. In all things and in all places we must let our light shine so that men can see our good works and glorify God in heaven, but we shouldn't waste so much time on bad ground and pavement that we end up having nothing left for the good ground that would receive the word of truth and produce a great harvest.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

May the LORD bless you and keep you;
May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who wants you to reap a great harvest,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Things Black Folk Say #9 - David Banner

2006-12-02T00:46:00.000-06:00

David Banner gives a speech...a fairly long speech as he receives a Humanitarian Award from the Congressional Black Caucus. (please, do yourself a favor and click this link...you'll be glad you did)

David Banner is an interesting dude. If any of y'all actually KNOW David Banner, please tell him the next time he is in DFW, dinner is on me, wherever he wants to go. I have got to pick this man's brain.

DaveyWayne translates for Tom Vilsack

2006-11-30T17:28:00.000-06:00

so, it is official...all the talk about Presidential candidates aside....we have our first ACTUAL candidate.

Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa

Governor Vilsack is a native of Pittsburgh, PA, which gives him a few points in my book.

He is married with two grown sons.
He will be the Governor of Iowa until January, 2007
He is the current chair of the DLC

Beyond that....hes practically anonymous, which is why he is out there running now.

Alone.

So, since he was nice enough to GIVE a speech...allow me to translate it.

We live in a dangerous world, a world with real threats. Every day on our way of life is threatened by terrorism from around the world. American families today struggle every single day with the rising cost of health care and college expense. For too many, homeownership remains a fading dream; and for others, retirement security, an unfulfilled promise. In many of our cities and neighborhoods, crime represents a daily threat and danger.

We also need to speak the truth about our country.

Our way of life, our quality of life, our national security has been compromised and put at risk by a national government that's been fiscally irresponsible and by a country that has grown far too dependent on oil, foreign oil from foreign countries, some of which despise us, harbor terrorists, but gladly take our money.

Translation: Yeah, terrorism is a pain in the ass, but we got lots of issues in this country. Just getting by can be a real Biyah now and then. In fact, we got more problems at home than we do in other countries..and I ain't just making that up because I have no foreign policy experience whatsoever, either.

I began life in an orphanage in the hands of a stranger. I was adopted into a loving, but troubled, home.

In my early years, my mom battled with alcohol and prescription drug addiction.

My parents separated. I watched as my father struggled as a single parent trying to keep his business alive.

We grew accustomed to a declining standard of living.

I know what it's like. I knew then and I know today what it's like to be alone and to feel as if you don't belong.

You know, the deepest hole anyone can dig is the hole of dependency and addiction. But my mom dug herself out of that hole. She relied on her faith and her family and her friends.

And in doing so, she taught me a very valuable lesson. And that is that the courage to create change can overcome the largest of obstacles and that community can give you the confidence and the support to try and to succeed.

Translation: I grew up poor, and I'm STILL not a fan of welfare, so don't try and hang that on me.

In the past eight years, I've helped lead our state, Iowa, to successfully changing by making our farm fields into energy fields. We challenged the traditional notion of agriculture. We became the renewable fuel leader and producer in the country. It helped us to become more economically, environmentally and energy secure.

If you drive around Iowa today, you'll see that changing landscape. You'll see ethanol production facilities, you'll see biofuel production facilities, you'll see wind farms.

You'll also be in a state that has the number one air quality in the nation.

Translation: I am beholden to American farm subsidies, not foreign big oil.

We also had the courage to change public education. Early childhood initiatives, class size reduction, raising teacher pay allowed us to improve our test stores, enabled us to retain our leadership as a leader in SAT and ACT scores, and to be the state that had the lowest dropout rate in the entire nation.

But we didn't stop there. We had the courage to change government itself by reducing the size of (inaudible) access to health care to children, seniors, to veterans. It allowed us to be one of only two states last year that reduced the number of uninsured, and we now rank second in the nation in insurance coverage.

Translation: I love babies and old people....and sick people. See, I can be warm and fuzzy...and even competent.

Energy security will revitalize rural America. Energy security will allow us to reclaim moral leadership in the discussion of global climate change. And energy security will allow us once and for all to remove and reduce our dependency on foreign oil from foreign countries that do not like us.

And together, with the courage to create change, let us embrace a new foreign policy, one that allows us to renew our friendships, strengthen our alliances and isolate our enemies.

And specifically in Iraq, we must act and we must act now. We must take our troops out of harm's way and say to the Iraqis, "It is your responsibility to protect your families and your communities."

I'm running for president because I believe every American has the right to pursue the American dream. I'm running for president because I believe every American community should be part of our success.

Translation: Yes, America, I will bring your sons and daughters home. And look how big my tent is...there is room for you, too.

Overall initial impression:

Tom Vilsack is your typical random Democrat. He's a more subdued Howard Dean, A slightly less attractive John Edwards, An older Evan Bayh, A more concise Joe Biden, A more willing Mark Warner.

Does he have a chance? Not so much. With the Heavy Hitters lurking in the shadows waiting to turn him into Paul Tsongas

What he has, is the ONE thing no one else has...Iowa in his hip pocket. he WILL win Iowa, but after that? who knows?

I do. Say hello to your potential VP nominee.

Fantasia...don't do it.

2006-11-30T09:39:00.000-06:00

lyrics - hood boy

I like Fantasia. I always have.

But as I watch the video I ask myself...why does this bother me?

It is because the hood boy mystique has been the undoing of many a young man.

Stop the foolishness....

Do it for the babies.

Sincerely, The anti-hood boy...even though I grew up in it.

Go ahead, I DARE you not to laugh at this

2006-11-30T09:24:00.000-06:00

Do not ask Jim Webb about his boy.

2006-11-29T21:28:00.000-06:00

As a former political operative of some repute, I have attended my share of political receptions. Protocol and the like is usually not very entertaining. People who would sooner spit on each other shaking hands and making nice-nice can be quite nauseating, in fact.

So you can imagine how gleeful it was for the lucky news hack that caught hold of this little exchange.

President Bush: So, How's your boy?
Senator JIm Webb: I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President.
President Bush: That's not what I asked. How is your boy?
Senator Jim Webb: That's between my boy and me.

Now, in order for this exchange to be truly understood...let us evaluate the respective parties.

President George W. Bush: Y'all know him. what more really needs to be said. For this particular purpose let us focus on two things...

his lack of formal military experience
his "folksy" charm
His almost singular responsibility for the situation in Iraq.

Senator James Webb (D-VA): We do not know a lot about him. Here is what we DO know.

Military Experience -A 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy , Webb was a Marine Corps infantry officer until 1972, and is a highly decorated Vietnam War combat veteran. During his four years with the Reagan administration , Webb served as the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, then as Secretary of the Navy .

Personal: Among his four children, has a son named Jimmy, 24 who is a Marine serving in Iraq. In tribute to Jimmy and "all the people sent into harm's way", Webb wore his son's old combat boots every day during his 2006 Senate campaign.

We also know that Senator Webb skipped the receiving line in order to avoid a confrontation with the President. The President, for reasons only known to him, sought Senator Webb out in order to ask him about his son.

What is not as well known, but not exactly a secret either, is that Senator Webb says very little about his son. When asked during the campaign about Jimmy, Senator Webb always responded that that was between his son and him.

I can understand you not knowing that, but I cannot understand President Bush not knowing that. Surely the fact that Senator Webb didn't pass through the receiving line should have tipped W off that the distinguished gentleman from the Commonwealth of Virginia might have been allergic to small talk, especially with the man who has commanded over the most inept military action since Waterloo.

So, in a quest for...hell, I don't know WHAT he was trying to do...

President Bush tracked the good Senator down.

This set off a debate that occured at the palace @ Funkytown East.

FW: I think people need to stop being so soft. If your child volunteers for the military, they don't get to pick and choose the wars they fight in. They serve at the pleasure of the president. He(Webb) needs to stop acting like a little bitch.

Me: Baby, the man used to be Secretary of the NAVY UNDER REAGAN! If anyone is qualified as a parent AND as a military expert to choose to disengage the president based upon the unforgivable nature of how he put his son in harm's way over a series of Lies, not just ONE...not so much a mistake...but just a plain ole ongoing disaster that he STILL will not take ultimate responsibility for.

FW: Still though, you can't go around whining about it. You aren't fighting the war, your son is. It isn't your place to talk about that at a party.

Me: That's why he didn't go near him. What the hell was the President doing?

FW: I don't know...you know He isn't too bright. I don't think he was fuggin with him. I think He is genuinely concerned with the welfare of his son.

Me: Um....ok....and when he got the answer he got the FIRST time...that should have told him to leave THAT man alone about his boy. I am a little disturbed that the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD IS SO SOCIALLY INEPT as to press a man about his son fighting in an unjust war that YOU insisted on. He's lucky Webb didn't buss his ass in the mouth.

TV: sources say Webb confided that he was inclined to slug him.

Me: YOU SEE...YOU SEE WHAT I AM SAYIN??? They gonna learn to steer clear of Jim Webb about his boy.

I just want to lock Michael Irvin in a Room with Michael Richards

2006-11-28T14:37:00.000-06:00

This pains me.

It isn't bad enough that the Steelers are just stinking up the joint in ways that are truly hard to fathom, but now I got social issues all mixed into my football.

It is apparent to me that Michael Irvin is bulletproof. Be they crackpipes in his car, or playing the dozens with people's heritage, It seems there is nothing that can be done to rid us of him or his foolishness.

And of course, as if THAT isn't enough...now I have to wade through all the woe-is-us white folk spouting about how when Rush Limbaugh did it to Donovan McNabb, he got fired. (I will get to that in a moment)

And then comes the rehash of the Michael Richards Nigger-gate. (cause you KNOW that is what they would call it if THEY could get away with it.)

Just when you think the story will die the ignominious death it so richly deserves, Along comes the good Rev. Jackson, who has decided to hitch his wagon to this seemingly endless debate.

It seems that Rev. Jackson wants the word banned as hate speech.

Uh...right.

I am not going to lend too much energy to that particular debate other than to say, the last time I checked, washed up sitcom stars weren't the primary purveyors of the word. Plucking words out of the language isn't the goal we should be striving for. Censorship by the government only inspires more folk to do what it is you do not want them to do.

Self-Censorship seems to be working just fine...for 81% of the country.

Then you have those of us who feel like it's ok for US to use it...just not THEM.

I think this is the one thing that burns white folk the most.

The very word they empowered....was taken away from them...only to now be used as a pronoun by the very people they used to hold down with it.

The more they hear it...the more they are cautioned against using it.

You don't have to be a racist to be annoyed by that. You only have to be human, and a little annoyed by their hubris.

Yes...Hubris.

Hubris is exaggerated pride or self-confidence.

If yours truly is annoyed by what I witness, I can only imagine the mindset of those who wish we would stay in our place.

and yes, that includes me.

Listen carefully to the Kramer-rant. That is the rage of a formerly privileged class. I am sure that during the 12 minutes of the human existence when a black man could criticize an unfunny white comic without ensuring that his life insurance and last will and testament was all in order a white comic who was so inclined thought nothing of dropping an N-bomb on a heckler.

The times they are a changin' - Bob Dylan

On Monday, November 20, 2006, Michael Irvin former All-Pro Wide receiver and current...uhhh...expert analyst for ESPN said something which on the surface may seem pretty innocent but upon further examination can be seen as nothing short of mind boggling.

in case you missed it in the last post...here goes:

“… [there must be] some brothers in that line somewhere … (laughs to himself) somewhere there are some brothers … I don’t know who saw what, where …. [maybe] his great, great, great, great Grandma ran over in the hood or something went down … (laughter)”

Dan Patrick:that’s the only way to be a great athlete?

Irvin :“No, that’s not the only way … but it’s certainly one way … [maybe his] great, great, great, great Grandma pulled one of them studs up outta the barn [and said] ‘come here for a second’ … back in the day …(more sinister laughter)”

Sigh...

Allow me to elaborate.

What Mr. Irvin is SUGGESTING...is that Tony Romo's female ancestor owned slaves and took a stroll out to the "barn" to get her swerve on with one of her chattle.

I suppose that sinister laughter would be an indication that Mr. Irvin was kidding.

Yes, he was kidding, but jest does not make it all right.

The fact that Mr. Romo seems not to be bothered(just how do you make hay out of something this...difficult to fathom), makes it...uh....well it makes it about as insignificant as it should be in and of itself.

The problem is, this is as much about Tony Romo (who is on the verge of making my life miserable, by the way) as the Michael Richards fiasco is about the two guys who egged Kramer into his spontaneous fit of Tourette's Syndrome.

This is about the ability to put what you say, as a NATIONAL MEDIA PERSONALITY, into the proper context.

On no planet is a reference to master on chattel sex even remotely humorous.

It could be said, in so many words, that Irvin did to Jimmy the Greek what (insert random Def Jam Comedian) did to Michael Richards.

He took the most annoying double standard in the world and rubbed it gleefully in the face of every white person who bristles at the public utterance of the word nigger by a Black person.

And they had to take it. Dan Patrick would have loved to have simply fawned over Tony Romo and let that be that. But Michael Irvin had to break off his route and run a go pattern to sociological hell.

One week later, Irvin lobs out a half assed apology brought to you by the sportsblogosphere, who, in the main are a group of white men who would love to lob racially insensitive jokes (and sometimes they do, since they have yet to reach a critical mass where the masses could be truly insulted.

Yep...that's what we have here boys and girls.

YT is mad cause the big Black man gets to lob out ignorant jokes while they have to water theirs down.

It just ain't fair.

Of course it isn't exactly fair for black men to have the market cornered on being shot while unarmed dozens of times by the police.

I wonder if white folk would trade us?

Offensive Coordinator

2006-11-28T08:50:00.000-06:00

The first day back is always the hardest.

I am wiping out the cobwebs and avoiding the irrepressible urge to stay home and try and catch up on what I have missed.

Kramer channeling his inner Nathan Bedford Forrest (if only for a moment)
Jesse Jackson rescuing Kramer from career Suicide (now its like career paralysis)
Paul Mooney saying that Kramer Cured him from saying the N-Word
BeBe Moore Campbell passing away at the age of 56
the NYPD reminding black men of the fleeting nature of life.
NBC News tells us that the sky is, in fact, blue.
The Steelers hurt my feelings and prove to me that they are, in fact my family, because only family can Hurt your feelings like that and you still love them.
Michael Irvin makes me ashamed of the color of my skin. (oh, didn't catch this one?)

On talking about the play of Tony Romo on ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick Show on November 20, 2006

Dan Patrick:that’s the only way to be a great athlete?

Now, you see, when I hear shit like that...it makes shit like THIS...harder to deal with.

I am watching Family Guy on Sunday night (the fifty shots that ended a man's life on his wedding day not 2 miles from where I am sitting still ringing in my ears) and the following exchange takes place.

Stewie: What kind of man would I be if I just left and didn't live up to my responsibilities?
Brian: A Black Man?

I look at FW, who is instinctively looking at me with that whole "did he say what I thought he said?" look and time just stopped.

Me: How do you feel about that?
Her: I don't know...how about you?
Me: um....I think I should be offended...No...I am offended...no...I think I am sad because I am not more offended than I am.

time passes...

Me: no...I am definitely offended.
Her: Yeah, I am pretty offended, too.

more time:

As I write this, I'm definitely offended, but I am pretty sure I am more sad about a world that allows a joke like that to work.

There is offense all around, boys and girls. All you gotta do is reach up and grab it....its right there for the grabbing.

Why can't EVERYONE go on vacation when I go on Vacation?

2006-11-27T22:29:00.000-06:00

From Funkytown to the Big Apple to the Poconos to the Big Apple and back to Funkytown, it has been a long week. Vacations suck the life out of me even as they infuse me with new energy and new ideas.

I realize now what it is about vacations that exhilarate/discourage me.

I am addicted to being in control of my intake.

Vacations, especially FAMILY vacations, put a strain on that. It is difficult for me to be comfortable in other folk's houses...and this past week I was in three of them.

I met FW's people(Her out of town people) for the first time and they were all wonderful folk. Good, solid, salt of the earth, black folk.

Now I am home.

It is good to be home.

Home is nice.

Tomorrow, we go back to work...blog included.

Word For The Week

2006-11-26T08:09:00.000-06:00

Text:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:14-22

Context:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:34-40

There is nothing more frustrating than having to deal with people who are lukewarm about things that matter. George Bush and his Republican Party are taking this country to Hell in a hand basket and too many Americans' only response is, "Whatever." Touch-screen voting is being implemented across the country even as we see in Sarasota that 18,000 votes can instantly "disappear" in order to help one candidate over another and the only response that we hear from too many Americans is a heart-felt, "Whatever." Our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunties are being slaughtered as grist for the Iraqi mill and all that too many Americans have to say is, "Whatever." This lukewarm Laodecean attitude is the reason why wicked men can hatch their plans to deprive the populace of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - the people will merely say, "Whatever."

This is even more true of those who call themselves Christians. There are too many Christians who are zealous for God but when it comes to their fellow man their response is essentially, "Whatever." Someone needs help with breaking the cycle of poverty? "Whatever." Someone needs food, clothing and shelter? "Whatever." Someone needs health care or to be comforted in prison? "Whatever." Many people who call themselves Christians are indeed zealous for God, but in too many instances - like a true Laodecean - their love is lacking for their fellow man.

Likewise, there are too many people who call themselves Christians who are zealous for their fellow man but whose response when it comes to God Himself is essentially, "Whatever." God requires the Christian to pursue His holiness? "Whatever." God refers to homosexuality as being uniquely abominable, using the Hebrew word חועבה "toebah" to refer to homosexuality and other practices which are abominable while using the Hebrew word שקץ "sheqets" to refer to all other practices that are simply to be avoided? "Whatever." Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life - no one comes to the Father except through Me" and the lackadaisical Laodecean replies, "Whatever."

There are too many Christians In Name Only, and much the same way that Republican In Name Only Lincoln Chaffe was spewed out of his seat in the Senate and Democrat In Name Only Zell Miller would have been spewed out of his Senate seat if he had sought another term, Christians In Name Only will be spewed out by Jesus when the eternal election day comes to pass. When we stand before God to give an account of all that we have done in this life there will be many conservatives standing before Jesus, saying, "Lord, Lord, did we not vote Republican in your name, and in your name drive out homosexuals and prevent many abortions?" just to hear Jesus tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" However, there will also be progressives standing before Jesus in judgment, saying, "'Lord, Lord, did we not feed the hungry, and clothe the naked and comfort the sick and imprisoned?" just to hear Jesus tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" Faith without works is truly dead, and works without faith is equally dead. Only a faith that works will lead to eternal life, and that faith must be placed in Jesus Christ - the only way to the Father is through the Son.

I know, whatever.

May the LORD bless you and keep you;
May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who wants you to love Him forever,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.