Thursday, December 30, 2004

2004 in Review

What do you do when you have three hours of work to go before your holiday starts and nothing work on? You might as well review things that made news in your world for the year. I think I can cover the entire thing in three hours. I bet you people that write these kind of columns spend all week on it. I am going to finish mine in three hours. That may mean I am talented. It also may mean that I didn't care about enough news to think of for more than three hours. Either way, here it goes in no particular order.


  • George Bush whipped John Kerry in the presidential election. You can't beat a wartime president without making him look bad or incompetent. Kerry argued some good points but never tried to take away any of GW's stature and presence. He didn't have enough charisma of his own to diminish any the president had.
  • For the first time a team I have followed my entire life won a championship. The LSU tigers beat Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl to hold up the crystal trophy. I watched this game 4 times on video tape.
  • Hurricane Ivan ran more people out of South Louisiana than the Union Army. It's no surprise that many people left considering the fact that Mayor Nagin made it seem like Armageddon. Speaking of the mayor...........
  • A black ministers group in New Orleans called the mayor an uncle tom that is not concerned with black people. They were pissed because he stopped the endless amount of government money they were receiving when Morial was in office. If not giving contracts and grants to millionaire preachers who live in mansions, while the majority of their congregations live in neighborhoods infested with drugs and poor schools makes you an uncle tom then maybe I am one too. Maybe they can take some of those offerings and sell some of the vast property they own all over the city and help the mayor build some drug treatment and adult education centers around the city.
  • Kathleen Blanco was sworn in as the first woman governor of Louisiana. Although I didn't vote for her, I won't make any negative comments about her until I see what she does with the Saints deal. If she messes that up, I will be on all out attack.
  • New Orleans citizens ran almost the entire school board out of office and decided on a fresh start. I just hope we don't let this group stay in office forever before we realize that progress isn't being made. If we can't see any changes in 4 years then we need to clean house again and that includes Mr. Amato. What's in that audit?
  • The Saints and the Hornets were so average and disappointing they don't even deserve to have separate bullet points.
  • The Pistons, Patriots, and Red Sox were the major sports champions. It was a good year for Boston. Speaking of championships.........
  • Janet Jackson flashed her breast at the Superbowl, excited millions of perverted men for two seconds and started censorship in America. Personally, I'm glad she got in trouble. She shouldn't have been up there with Justin Timberlake anyway. She better be glad she is with Jermaine Dupri and not somebody like 50 Cent or Mike Tyson because they would have made sure black people under 40 were banned from attending the Super Bowl for the next 5 years. Justin knows who to play with. Plus, he turned state's evidence on her every chance he got after the incident.
  • Kobe Bryant's rape case was dropped and every one involved looked stupid and shady. The only winner in this episode was Vanessa Bryant. She got a 4 million dollar ring, and a scared husband wrapped around her finger. Plus, she potentially has half of a 100 million dollar contract from the Lakers if he slips up. All that from five minutes of hanky panky in a Colorado hotel room and she didn't even have to do anything. She hit the golddigger's lottery.
  • Bin Laden managed to make it another 365 days without getting captured. I was thinking. Does the U.S. government have anybody on the payroll that is similar to Rambo? Shouldn't we have a group of commandos that can run in their and take out the entire Taliban with a knife and bow and arrow?
  • While we spend billions to make the Iraqi people love us for getting rid of their evil dictator and murderer, millions of people in the Darfur region of the Sudan die from ethnic cleansing and America does absolutely nothing. They should have had some oil under their huts and everyone would be safe.
  • Hundreds of gay couples flocked to San Francisco and Massachusetts to get married. When this story broke, Karl Rove and George Bush lit a victory cigar.
  • Cliff's Top Five T.V. Shows for 2004: 1. Dave Chappelle Show 2. American Chopper 3. Monster Garage 4. The Wire 5. The Family Guy
  • Rest In Peace to Reggie White, Rick James, Ray Charles and the Old Dirty Bastard. Have you ever noticed how black people treat entertainers and athletes like family when they die but can watch their local news of some young unknown brother in their own community getting shot and show no concern what so ever. That's just something to think about.
  • As I am writing this the death toll from the tsunami continues to rise. This might be the biggest story of the year in it's last week. Mr. Bush, please send these people more money than any other nation. If you spend billions on war, you have to spend at least 1 billion on helping people. This is the moral value moment that will validate 53% of American voters. 35 million dollars is ridiculous.
  • Entertainer of the year is Jamie Foxx because he moved up the list in Hollywood without changing his style. He really did keep it real.
  • Jackass of the Year is a tie between Kobe Bryant and John Kerry. Kobe because I am a Shaq guy and Kerry because now I have four more years of George.
  • Album of the year is another tie. Lets go with Kanye West - College Dropout and Nas Street Disciple. The reason is simple. I am 30 years old now but still love hip hop as much as I did 20 years ago. It was nice to have two mainstream CD's that actually had mature lyrics I could relate too. There is no rule written that says hip hop has to be directed towards teenagers who have no guidance or understanding. If you are a 30 year old rapper, you should be able to make a record about where you are as a person now, not 10 years ago. If the things you did in your teens and 20's make the same sense to you in your 30's and 40's then you are either not "keeping it real" or you are just stupid and not worth my hard earned money anyway.
  • Worst album of the year is a tie also and both CD's belong to Nelly, Sweat and Suit. Read the above paragraph.
  • The person who did the most without talent this year is Lil John. He made himself famous using the same beat and two words. You have to respect stuff like that....Yeeeaaahhh!
  • The Suge Knight Scary Negro Award goes to Ron Artest for running into that crowd like Tupac at a Biggie concert and attacking that poor fan. I honestly think the fan that threw the cup had no understanding of ghetto culture. No one from the hood would have done that. Anybody that has ever known a brother like Ron(and there are many of them) knows he was going to click out at any minute. When that beer hit him you knew what he was going to do. Sometimes, when the hood meets the suburbs bad things happen. Why did ESPN show that replay 5,669 times like Ron Artest was some strange creature from another planet and they couldn't believe he did it. He's just a product of urban living. At least he just grabbed the guy. Some brothers would have went to the locker room first and came back shooting everybody not in a Pacer's uniform. Since I am on the subject of urban living, I will end my year in review with this last story......
  • Bill Cosby has been going off on "lower economic" black people all year. Every chance he got he gave the message that the "lower economics" are not living up to their end of the bargain. When was the bargain made and why didn't I get the letter? Mr. Cosby I hope you are reading this. I agree with what you said about the kids not being able to read and speak. I also agree that some of our priorities are messed up. I respect the fact that you have provided a way for many young black people to go to college. However, please remember Mr. Cosby that you grew up as a "lower economic" yourself and I am sure there aren't too many people in your old neighborhood that got to leave it. The reason you got to leave is because you have a special talent just like most people who get a pass out of the ghetto. You can entertain people. Some people can dunk, some can run, some can rap, you can make people laugh. I know you are an intelligent man. It's a great possibility that had you not been able to make people laugh you would still be in Philadelphia working a 9-5 job doing well and trying to raise your kids right. You would still have friends and most of your family in that neighborhood and have a different understanding since you would be one layoff away from moving back there yourself. Imagine how you would feel if you turned on the TV and seen an entertainer making a sweeping indictment about you and your people just because you happen to be a "lower economic". That's why even though you were right in what you said, lots of black people were pissed. I wasn't offended personally but understood why some people were. Next time, make your statements and suggestions without sweeping every "lower economic" under the blanket of ignorance and complacency. Give some props to the men and women that are out there guiding their kids in the right direction despite the things that you mentioned.

I hope everyone had a good year in 2004 and a better one in 2005. May all of your plans come through for you.

Peace and Love,

Clifton


Wednesday, December 29, 2004

I have been encouraging friends of mine to write something. I received this from one of them and I am going to post it for other people to read.

Power of Words

Words are so specific…. I believe that what comes out of our mouth is somewhere in our heart. The more we speak something the more we believe it. The more you believe it the more it comes true. That is why everything that comes out of our mouth should be of a positive nature. We speak negative, those negative things happen, we speak Positive, and those positive things come to pass. Life is too short to complain and look at all the bad. We need to look on what is good in our life, relationships and work. In all things there is always a good to it. And if it is outright bad, you can always turn it around for good. It is a choice. Take time to think what your choice will be… and run with it. Your attitude determines your altitude… How high in life will you get!

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

I am coming live from the planet of New Orleans today getting ready for the new year. I'm kind of excited although I will still be broke for the first half of the year again. It could be allot worse so I am not going to stress about that any longer. It's now time for me to touch on some things that I have been checking out around the globe for the last week. Coming later I will present the first annual Cliff's Crib's Year End Awards and Disses. These winners and losers were selected by a secret panel who have way too much time on their hands. That should be posted tomorrow and I know everyone is excited. Enough about that for now...............

It snowed for Christmas! I must admit that the snow put me in the spirit of the season. I loved it for one day but if it snowed for more than 3 days straight in this city, nobody would be able to drive.

There has never been another tragedy in my lifetime like that earthquake in Sri Lanka. Who knows how large the death toll will get. George Bush, this is a great oppurtunity to show the rest of the world that we are the leader in everything. Go to Congress and get some money to help those people. We have to help rebuild nations that don't have evil dictators with a large supply of oil. You should even send your top aides over to deliver the message first hand.

While there are thousands of people dying in Sri Lanka, this fool burned his house down over Xmas gifts. I think we have a new poster boy for birth control.

I would like to thank the Eagles for making no attempt whatsoever to beat the Rams last night. It's all part of the conspiracy to keep the Saints out of the playoffs.

I'm tired of people acting like the Panthers have already won the damn game Sunday. If this doesn't fire the Saints up, I don't know what will.

R.I.P. to Reggie White. I remember watching you lift lineman off of their feet. You were a great player.





Top Five High School Edition

Once again, I haven't heard anything on the radio that moved me this week. I am working on an old school high school cd so I thought I would drop my top five songs from 1990-1992.

1. Come and Talk to Me - Jodeci

2. Baby I'm Ready - Gerald Levert

3. Minds Playing Tricks on Me - Geto Boys

4. Written all Over your Face - Rude Boys

5. Put your Ballys On - Bust Down

Things I learned in 2004

I was going to do a year in review of 2004. Since I realized that I wouldn't have too many good things to say about the events of this year, I will instead give you the top lessons learned for 2004. You never get too old to learn.


I learned that a baby changes so much, so fast that you better take time to notice what they are doing because in a few weeks they will be an entirely different person. I don't think there is anything else that would give me the same satisfaction as being a father.

I learned that as proud as I am of being a dad, none of that is possible without Tara doing all the work for nine months. Thank You.

I already knew that there is nobody on this Earth that I would switch parents with for Bernadine and Clifton. You are why I am who I am. You probably have more confidence in me than I had in myself some days this year and every other year. If I can give my daughter the same support you give me, then I will be doing ok.

I learned that even though I am blessed to be a 30 year old mature man, sometimes it's ok to wish I was on St. Claude Street sharing everything with Shell, Jenny, Walt, and Jerald.

I am learning that judging by the start of this post, I am becoming way too emotional and sentimental as I get older. Maybe that's the dad in me coming out. There are just too many days where a song on the radio makes me cry.

There is no family I would rather be in other than the Harris, Louvier and Baker family. Thanks for making me feel special even when my confidence was shaken this year.

I learned that no matter how much you love your job and think you are secure, you better have a resume, cover letter, and interview clothes ready to go at any time. There are no guarantees in the job market.

I learned that there is no sense in any human being out of work by choice. I was out of work for 5 months and it drove me crazy. I will never understand how a man can sit home for years without a job or millions of dollars and not shoot somebody.

I learned it's better to let someone else fix your car instead of trying to be Mr. Fix It and breaking it more. Anybody have a jeep engine they want to sell?

I learned that after all these years, I still have the same bunch of friends that treat me with the same love and respect they have for years. I don't always make good decisions but I think I got this friend thing down right. Peace to all my "sisters and brothers from other mothers".

Finally I learned that after all is said and done this year, I am much more stronger and together than I give myself credit for. I don't know why I ever thought I was wasn't. After all, I am a Harris man as we are built for strength.

Bring on 2005 and lets hope that all of our love ones are safe, prosperous, in good health, and free from harm. If problems do come, like they always do, we can pull together and help one another through it.


Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Top Five CD's The Old School Version

Haven't been listening to anything new on the radio so I will give you the five songs I was listening to the most last week while playing albums.

1. Got to find Me an Angel - Aretha Franklin

2. Ike's Rap IV- Isaac Hayes

3. Bring it on home to me - Sam Cooke

4. Harry Hippie - Bobby Womack

5. Bon Bon Vie - T.S. Monk
Let me get some other things off of my chest this morning since I am on a roll.

What in the hell is going on in Iraq?
They are bombing U.S. bases now!. I wonder how some of that 53% that voted for George last month feel now. What is he doing supporting Rumsfeld anyway? Even the Republican senators think he is doing a bad job. I said it before and I will say it again, anybody who thinks they'll will be a democracy there is just flat out crazy. That first president needs to just wear a bullseye on his back to make it easy for the snipers.

It's December 21st and I am still not in the Christmas spirit. I haven't even listened to the Temptations- Silent Night yet. I still have four days to go. I was kind of getting into it until my jeep died and put me straight into the black man blues again.

Terrell Owens is out for the season..............good.

As of now I am ready to say that The Wire is the best show on television hands down. There is not one character on that show that isn't interesting and have some substance. It shows that gritty side of urban life without being stereotypical. I don't know where we go with Stringer Bell being dead but the show will still be interesting once they take it back to the docks and deal with the Russians and the union.

Hey Jay Z, I know you are ready this. Congratulations on becoming president of Def Jam. Who knew that making a few decent albums made you qualified to be in charge of the greatest hip hop label ever. Since you are in charge now, can I please get the EPMD greatest hits album now? How about a new album from Redman? Why don't you give Freddie Foxx a major deal so he can make some money for all the underground dues he has paid. Please hold your artist to the same standard of quality hip hop that you hold yourself to sometimes.


I know I just did a I Love New Orleans posting last week but................

What are we going to do with all these stray dogs with the SPCA stops picking them up? What are we doing with money in this city. I need to find where the budget is posted and check this thing out because something is wrong. People are going to start poisoning and shooting dogs in their neighborhood if they don't clear this up.


Why Not Us? Why Not Now?

I have made my share of negative comments and been really upset about this team and the coaching staff. However, I have decided that I am pulling out my old sweatshirt, dusting off the headband and heading to the Dome Sunday to try and help these fools make the playoffs. I am not going to be negative about anything this week. I am going to focus on strictly game planning and stopping Mike Vick. After looking at the NFC, there is absolutely no reason to think that our team is any worse than the other playoff contenders, especially since Owens is hurt. Forget about draft position, Brooks, Venturi, McCarthy, the stadium deal or Benson. The bottomline is we have a chance to get into the playoffs where anything can happen. If your disgust for Haslett and Brooks is enough for you to root against this team the next two weeks, then you need to be ashamed of yourself. No player or coach can overshadow my love for this stupid team. Besides, we have been drafting high and rebuilding for years with the same result. We might as well try to have another post season to enjoy. I want playoffs and the only thing I will accept beyond that is a blood and guts effort that leaves me physically drained when I leave the dome on Sunday. If Atlanta beats us, let it be because they are just better. Let's not let anyone say that we didn't support our team. We supported worse Saints teams than this one.

While I was sleeping

I had a dream last night. In my dream, I was stuck on a boat that was docked next to a hill. All the people on the boat were trying to get off and couldn't. If you went to the top of the hill, the wind blew you back down to the boat and hurt you. If you tried to go over the side, the high tides would sweep you under and people were drowning. The people on this boat were trying everything to get over the top or through the water. Nobody was paying attention to the door on the boat. This went on for awhile when finally I said why don't we just open that door right there and walk off the damn boat. I opened the door, everyone got off and the dream was over.

Now, I usually don't have dreams that really have any meaning but this one was different. The moral of that dream was that sometimes in our lives we get stuck in a bad situation that is out of our control. Instead of just taking the simple solution or trying to listen to other people's advice, we just go off on our own and try every stupid and dangerous idea to try and get over the hill or above water in one move. Sometimes you have to open the door to your vessel, get some new surroundings and try another hill.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

This is MY Home

Last night I was watching TV and checking out my favorite news show, ESPN Sportscenter. To my amazement, the lead story on last night's broadcast was the sorry history of pro sports in New Orleans. This was the last straw for me. None of those players are from here. Is there ever going to be a day when I see one good article or story about my city? The negativity is starting to kill me. I must have missed the part in the history books when it was decided that New Orleans would be the place for all things negative in America. We, the citizens of this city must be crazy to live here. After all, this is the only place with corruption, murder, drugs, crime, bad schools, and poor sports teams. The rest of America is a paradise I suppose. I guess the millions and millions of people in prisons or in poverty around this country were all born here and we shipped them off to other cities so they could have a criminal justice system.

I am not going to sit here and allow the national and local media to lower my self esteem just because I love the place I was born. I love this city. I can sit here and think of many things that I love about this place and they have nothing to do with sports, jobs or economics. I am talking about that personal quality of life stuff that we do now or did as a kid that attaches us to this place. Things that you sit around and think about and it just brings a smile to your face. Today I am going to list everything I love about growing up and living in New Orleans. Of course this list is coming off of the top of my head so if you read this and I miss something please let me know.

What I love about New Orleans is.........

The Entire Harris, Louvier, Butler, and Baker family

Grandma's sugar cookies

Going crabbing with my family in St. Bernard

Mama trying to catch the same crab for an hour (highlight of any trip)

Buying frozen cups from Ms. Josephine and the lady on George's street (never knew her name)

Me and Devin building skatemobiles: We had the only ones that went straight.

Me and Devin making wrestling belts from beer boxes: You had to be there.

Skateland on Wednesday Nights in the Summer

Pattons Hot Sausage

Manuels Hot Tamales with my daddy on the way home from dropping my grandma off in the St. Bernard (this happened when I was four and I still remember it like yesterday)

12 kids under the patio of my grandmother's house all playing spades, pitty pat, and battle all day long in the Summer!(my sister started having nightmare about cards chasing her. Please don't hurt me Shell)

Crawfish Boils

Fish Frys on Fridays

Swimming on the levee

Mr. Lawrence's Sweetshop ( you could buy beer at 5 years old and nobody cared)

Suppers

My uncle bringing seafood from the Acne Oyster House (his picture is up on the wall in there)

Going to the old ice house with my grandpa early in the morning on holidays.

Walking into a bar room with my uncle as a little child and no one calling social services

The Lakefront on Sundays

Walking to the Riverwalk with the fellas after school

Having my first kiss in Peters Middle School hallway: I was a man then!

Joseph S. Clark Senior High School

Oliver Bush Playground

Humpty Head: You had to be there

Going to Krauss, Holmes, Maison Blanche, McCorys and Woolworths(loved those cinnamon rolls)

Standing in the cold ass weather waiting for that 30 minute gap in the Endymion parade(this will never change).

Mr. Bingle

Popeye and Pals

McKenzies

Second Lines and Mardi Gras Indians

Brass Bands (especially the Lil Rascals)

Junkyard Dog and Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Municipal Auditorium: You had to be there

Horseshoes on the Neutral Ground

Meeting Brian on Canal St. to try and get some phone numbers( I only got a total of two numbers in three years. That's a shame)

Getting banned from Our Generation TV show after making an appearance with my pro black partner Renee Wichu Keller. That could have been my big break but we were way to radical for TV at that time.

Papa Smurf

Zulu coconuts

Catching that Broad bus with Kendra to go to the school board building to work those cameras ( We should have went to school for that and started our own company).

A poboy from Genes before they started cutting back on the meat.

A seafood platter from Jack Dempseys

Drive through diaquiris

K&B 3 flavor ice cream

Kool Can

Pitch up tackle with socks: You had to be there


Finally: Devin (I miss you), George, Brian, John, Shannon, Dana, Joseph, Ryan, Eric, Cedric, Trevor, Angela, Damion, Fred, Kendra, Nicole, Renaldo (R.I.P.), Danita, Shandolyn, Renee, Wichu, Gaynell, Lonnie, Big Nose Ed, Chris, Wootie, Kenneth, David, Jerry, Joe E., Freddie, Gene, Lisa, Doug, Dee(R.I.P.) and the Truck

You guys make me want to do everything all over again the same way.


Back in the House

Well, I haven't posted anything in awhile. Lack of concentration or concern has clouded my writing ability. I am not going to sit here and run down everything I failed to cover in the last week and a half. I'm not even going to give a top five song list this week. I will just start fresh on all of that stuff next week. I have some other things to write about today. NO, it's not the Hornets or the Saints.

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

The Weekly Five

Cliff's Top Five

1. Patti Labelle ft. Ron Isley - Go Solo

2. Angie Stone - Stay Awhile

3. Jill Scott - Whatever Whatever

4. Usher ft. Alicia Keys - My Boo

5. Lalah Hathaway - Forever For Always For Love

Monday, December 6, 2004

It's getting closer and closer to Christmas and I am still not in the spirit. I tried taking down the Christmas lights but that didn't do it so I guess I will wait until Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer story comes on TV or The Grinch and see if that works. It's amazing you can watch the same stuff every year for your entire life during Christmas and not get tired of it. Since we can't talk about Christmas or New Years yet, I might as well sit here and talk about other stupid stuff.

I know the Saints are struggling but after I watched Auburn beat Tennessee Saturday, the personal foul call on Prude after the missed field goal became my worst sports moment of the year. Just to see them celebrating and waving their flag pissed me off. That being said, it should be AU against Oklahoma for the title.

Since the start of football and basketball season, the Hornets and Saints are a combined 5-23. 2004 is so forgettable in many ways.

I actually got a letter from an employer telling me I was over qualified. This is a first for me. I don't know if I should be upset I didn't get an interview or happy that I am finally at the stage of life where I am over qualified for something.

Wrestling Note Only for Me:
You just knew that belt would be getting held up last night. Can anyone say triple threat match at the next PPV? What a boring show. Please get the diva contestants off the air. There are too many wrestlers to kill all that airtime on that. After watching Smackdown Thursday and Raw last night I realized what both shows are missing. They are both missing a charismatic, crowd pleasing hero. They're just too many heels right now and the list is growing everyday. They better create another Stone Cold or Hulk Hogan fast. They could even use a Bob Backlund at this point.

To all those people that voted for Bush in the election. Have you been watching the news lateley? Iraq is slowly turning into Vietnam and it's obvious those people don't really want us there now that Saddam is gone. We can't leave them alone because all hell will break lose. Basically we are stuck in a no win situation now. Like I said before, never totally trust anybody that won't budge on an issue. We are going to be there for years. Can anybody say draft?


Every Week

Every week I have to start off with the same thing............

Panthers 32- Saints 21

I can honestly say that these guys were not ready to play this game. We can sit here and blame one player or a few plays but the reality is if the Panthers had there true first string team playing this would have been even uglier. Haz gets the blame to this one because it's obvious that he has no idea how to get these guys to play any better. He is as confused as the average fan but makes too much money to stay that way.


Saturday, December 4, 2004

ESPN.com - MLB - Report: Bonds unknowingly used steroids

ESPN.com - MLB - Report: Bonds unknowingly used steroids

You know the saddest thing about this whole story is that Barry Bonds doesn't even need that to hit the homeruns he did. Everybody is getting exposed and admitting it. Marion Jones is the only holdout. I got a feeling that they will have to have her on tape or something before she would admit anything.

Monday, November 29, 2004

Top Five in the CD Changer

This is something new I am going to do every Monday. Giving the current state of music, it may be the same for a few weeks.


Cliff's Top Five

1. Queen Latifah - Simply Beautiful

2. Snoop Dogg - Drop it Like it's Hot

3. Patti Labelle ft. Ron Isley - Go Solo

4. Usher ft. Alicia Keys - My Boo

5. Lil Jon, BunB. Jadakiss, T.I., Nas, Ice Cube - Grand Finale

Music Stuff

Ok, this posting won't be negative I promise. I just wanted to cover some music stuff while I have the time.

Chingy says that DTP jerked him around. Ludacris is pissed. Who really cares what Chingy thinks. We are giving too much press to people with no talent.

I'm really feeling this Patti Labelle / Ron Isley song Go Solo. It's good to see Ron can still make a song with R. Kelly on it. Patti Labelle sounds great on this song. Speaking of R. Kelly....

Why does another sex tape of his pop up every week. Even if he was going to tape all of this stuff, shouldn't he be hiding these things. You can't show your boys everything. Please parents, don't let your daughters between the ages of 15-18 go to an R. Kelly concert. No wonder Jay Z pepper sprayed him.

Usher and Tevin Campbell have one thing in common. I make jokes about both of them but probably like every single they have put out. I can't stop playing My Boo.

Attention everyone: There's an artist named Eureka from New Orleans with a new album coming out. Please don't buy this thing and set New Orleans music back 15 years. It's bad enough we have Kings Entertainment.

I promised this post wouldn't be negative but what is up with that Destiny's Child song Soldier. When was the last time any of those young ladies were actually in the hood with a "soldier"? In 2005 it's about time black people start getting rid of this romantic image of the thug. That hasn't gotten us nowhere.

Finally, I want to send a shout out to Nasir Jones for making a hip hop album that reflects his age and maturity. The Street Disciple album may not have any real club songs on it but the lyrics are thought out and it shows what a 30 something rapper should be rapping about. It's time for some of the thugs to grow up in 2005. Some of the songs are real serious and Coon Picnic will never get air play but is the best song on the album. I give it 4 stars out of 5.


Now that I have that other issue off of my chest I can move on and get this week started talking about other things on my mind.

It looks like I am going to end the year with this same job which means I will be struggling financially for Christmas. Has anyone else noticed that unless your under 18, no one is really happy for Christmas anymore? Everyone should be happy but many find reasons to be sad. Lonely people are sad because they have no one to buy gifts for. Poor people are sad because they know they can't get their love ones what they want and if they do, they will struggle for the next three months after over spending. You can put me in the poor people category. Whatever happened to just sitting around and enjoying your love ones. I'll tell you what happened. Every day and night you are bombarded with commercials and TV shows full of people buying diamond rings and cars for Christmas. I remember the commercial where they showed all the people getting new Lexus for Christmas. That's pressure. Being a dad now is going to put added pressure because I have no idea what to buy and when I find something it will probably be out of my price range. At least she's only one and has no clue it's Christmas. Hopefully when she's ten nobody will tell her I wasn't a good father because when she was one I didn't buy her a Playstation 2 for Christmas. I hate being so cynical.

Blue Monday......Again!

I can't believe just how much the Saints loss yesterday is effecting my attitude. I am sitting here pondering life in New Orleans and not feeling very good. After I post this message, I am going on a 24 hour sports exile (except for wrestling). I won't be listening to Jim Rome, Gerry V, watching ESPN or anything else. I surely have enough interest without having to watch sports. Now about the game.

Yesterday's game showed the real problem with this team. It's the offense. It's the defense. It's the coaching. You can't depend on any of these things from week to week. After 11 games, the Saints have still not played a complete game in all phases of the game. One week, the defense gives up 500+ yards. The next week they play fairly well and the offense can't make a first down. There is too much inconsistency around this team to put blame on any one thing. The Saints didn't have one bread and butter play to go to for that first down with 2 minutes left. They weren't prepared for the situation and the players couldn't execute. That's what we have been watching for the last four years. I am now going bang my head against the wall before I post anything else.

Monday, November 22, 2004

The Casual Fan

Normally I don't make post totally dedicated to sports but since that was all I did this weekend I have to get it off of my chest.

The brawl Friday night was really shocking to see on TV. I can't disagree with Artest getting suspended for the whole year and the other suspensions. He was dead wrong for going into the stands. However, he is a man and doesn't deserve to be treated like an animal just because he makes allot of money. If you look at most of the games on TV the first few rows of fans at an NBA game are rich suburban people for the most part. These people pay big money to watch young black kids from the ghetto run up and down. Just because you are being entertained and spent some money, does not give you the right to call those players anything you want and throw things at them. People are making a big deal of the fact that Artest didn't want to fight Ben Wallace. Why would he want to fight Ben Wallace anyway? Ben Wallace is a player. Artest didn't fight Ben because he understood why Ben was mad and there was no need to fight. The fan on the other hand was a different story. You still can't go in the stands and start punching, but we have no idea what kind of abuse these guys take and how much animosity they have towards the fans in general. I am willing to bet that there aren't too many players in the NBA right now that wouldn't have wanted to do the same thing. They might not have actually did it, but they can understand why Ron did. I love the game of basketball as a sport. I love football the same way. I have teams that I route for but I respect and admire any player on any team that performs and plays the game the way it was meant to be played. I am just as comfortable watching a game played at the local gym as I am watching one played at the Superdome. The casual fan is killing American sports. They are the reason we have to see WNBA players in their mini skirts, Terrell Owens hugging naked white women, and Janet Jackson perform at halftime of the SuperBowl. Casual fans come to games to see players act just like they do on shoe and beer commercials. Professional sports caters too much to the casual fan instead of worrying about the integrity and image of the game itself. They are not worried about purist like me. I am going to watch regardless. They want to promote sex, rowdiness, drinking and violence to bring in those fans that may not watch the sport in general but are looking for a good time and want to be entertained. This is why guys like Tim Duncan or Marvin Harrison get hardly any commercials or headlines, yet guys like T.O. and Ron Artest can be on TV almost all day long.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Today is a very cloudy day outside and I am nostalgic. I want desperately to be 12 years old today and play me a game of sandlot football in some old clothes. Just the thought of ant bites, the flu and ringworms makes me misty eyed. Oh well, can't do that today so I might as well waste some time and write down a few random ideas.

I appreciate the fact that Condelezza Rice is about to become the first black female secretary of state. This is a tremendous achievement. There is one problem however. I am not sure if she has the diplomacy skills to negotiate with any foreign leaders without starting World War 3. Powell was good for Bush because he looked at things a little differently than him and could play devil's advocate. Rice is just a mouthpiece for the president and won't have the same credibility.

I guess T.O. is Mandingo now. I knew he was going to apologize before anybody else did. I am not surprised the intro caused problems. I am also not surprised that Owens was involved but I don't think it was his fault or needed an apology. Maybe he needs to place himself under a two or three week gag order to let things calm down. This issue showed me one thing about America. Although we pretty much accept that black athletes and black men in general sometimes love, marry, and have sex with white women, we are not ready to see that on TV even as a joke. I kept asking myself how would I feel if Angela Bassett jumped into Brett Favre's arms after dropping her towel. The answer..............I would be complaining until I was 40. I guess we have allot of work to do.

I'm not looking forward to the Saints/Louisiana negotiations at all. A two month deadline is just too short to make that kind of agreement in this state. They will never find the money that fast even though they have been talking about this for years.
It's all about how the state views the Saints role in bringing money in and creating jobs. If Fielkow can make the case that the money we spend will be worth the return in revenue then the deal gets done easily. I don't think they have made that case effectively enough. Here is what bothers me. I understand in the mind of Blanco and some in the legislature that there are other priorities that need to come before a stadium or giving the Saints what they need. I will even acknowledge that most of the city's problems are self inflicted and I can understand why other areas of the state are not supporting a 500 million dollar plus project that doesn't even help change or fix the larger problems in New Orleans. The problem is that before the Saints asked for anything, the same problems were there and not enough has been done to try and change them. I would hate for the state to take a stand against the Saints because of all the other things that need to be done and then nothing else happens and we are in the same or worse situation without the team. If somebody could make the case that the money not given to the Saints will be used to make education better, reduce crime, and help produce more jobs then I would have no choice but to support not paying them. I just don't think that's where we are headed.





Tuesday, November 16, 2004


What did you do to Pac, Biggie, and Hip Hop's reputation? Posted by Hello

What in the Hell

Dr. Dre got suckered punched at the Vibe Awards Monday. What does it say about the music I love when one of it's greatest producers is getting honored and someone sneaks a jab to his face. Would this happen in any other music genre at all? No it wouldn't. All of the awards Outkast has won this year and all of the achievements of Jay Z have been washed away with this stupidity. I am 30 years old now and I have been listening to hip hop since I was 10. I don't know if it's the age or not, but I am not sure about the direction of hip hop anymore. There are some great hip hop artist out there. De La Soul, Roots, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, even Jay Z are examples of artist who take the music seriously. The problem is besides Jay Z and Outkast, most of the artist that get major media publicity are ignorant, talentless and not creative. Guys like Suge Knight got into the game to make money and brought the same hustle mentality from the corners into the board rooms and made hip hop a symbol of thuggery. How is this guy still able to sign artist and put out records? How is he even invited to award shows anyway? The answer is simple, ignorance sells records and makes money for the powers that be in the music industry. They don't care if Suge causes chaos or not. The only thing that matters is that the uneducated, ignorant black kids and the "wanna be black" white kids in America, think that this kind of thing is cool and go out and spend their money to support that bullshit. This is how a artist like Nelly, who shows not lyrical or musical talent can make a song like Pimp Juice and make millions while people like De La Soul barely break even. Nobody may want to admit this but guys like Nelly, and Cash Money, or Snoop Dogg hanging out with pimps is the image that people have of our community because of the music. I never thought it was necessary to be negative to sell records. The kids in the ghetto will follow their heroes no matter what they say. If Nelly and Snoop Dogg wanted to rap about stopping black on black violence they could and would still sell the same amount. They are not going to do it because they are really just whores to the system of corporate pimps that control this so called rebel music.
There's a board meeting today at the job so that means a long lunch! If this place was paying me enough to take care of everything I need to, they would need the swat team to fire me. Do you ever get to have the atomosphere and money at the same time? There may be some oppurtunities that are about to open up and I am getting mentally prepared for those. In the meantime, I am going to make the best of everything going on right now. I am getting ready to voice my opinion about this Vibe Awards thing from yesterday but it needs it's own post.

Monday, November 15, 2004

I am going to start limiting myself to five cups of coffee a day now. Ten is just too much and I want to start sleeping like a normal person again. The weekend wasn't bad at all. I can't think of anything I have to complain about other than the Hornets being 0-6 and looking like it will be awhile before they win a game.

Colin Powell finally decided to step down. You should have done that 4 years ago Colin when you realized that you were a pawn in an organized game plan for power by your president. I still wish you would have run for president yourself but can't blame you for not doing it. You would have had to explain the time you cheated at marbles in the fifth grade like it was Watergate.

There is no father to his style. Ol Dirty Bastard past away Saturday evening in the studio. As much as I am sad by this, it really doesn't surprise me. Dirty lived on the edge. I will be playing Wu Tang material all week.

Notes from THE WIRE: Why did Stringer tell Avon he killed DeAngelo in prison. He either has got to trust him a whole lot, or is playing to kill Avon and his sister too. That took allot of balls on his part. I wouldn't have done it. This has got to be the most realistic crime show ever because nothing changes by arresting somebody or one person dying. That's how it is in the ghetto for real. When one person goes away another steps up to take his place.

If you would have told me before the season started that the Saints would get blown out by Arizona and San Diego and beat Oakland and Kansas City I would have said you were crazy. I now know absolutely nothing about the NFL anymore.

Finally for now.............I hope I didn't sound too ungrateful about my raise last Friday. Anytime someone thinks enough of you to give you more money it's a good thing. I was comparing my wage to the rest of the office and my old wage and that is always going to make it look bad


Friday, November 12, 2004

Less Money....Mo Problems

After a week of anticipation I finally got to see what papers I needed to sign at work. It was wage increase papers. A whopping .50 raise! I don't mean to be sarcastic about it. It's hard to get too excited about a raise when I was making 12,000 dollars more the same time last year. This weekend will be a big test for me and my new attitude. I have to make it to Monday without cursing this job and all it stands for. It's not their fault my old job sent my position to Orlando and every other comparable job I applied for didn't hire me. I do curse them and all that they stand for. The reality of having to work two jobs is troubling to me. I simply can't stand it. If I do get another one in the evening, i will probably be so unfulfilled that I won't last long or be totally miserable. Either way it's going to suck real bad. I guess I am living the American reality. You live in a way you can't afford with income you can't maintain and then struggle when the income goes away to make everybody think you still have it. At least I have my health and I better keep it for awhile since I can't afford health insurance right now. The great thing about New Orleans is that there are bars open at lunch time especially designed for days like this. I will be visiting one of those today.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Ashcroft

So Ashcroft stepped down. This doesn't surprise me. It will be interesting to see who Bush asks to take his place. If he wants to work to bring the country together this could be a perfect situation to start with. I hope he can find someone that is more moderate and towards the middle so all Americans can feel comfortable. He probably won't but it's nice to dream.

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Return of the Soul Brother

Last week I did not have the focus to write anything but I am not back with a vengence. I listened to James Brown on the way into work this morning and I am ready to go. I am going to try and post to my blog more since I found out that people are actually reading this stuff. The first thing I have to do is cover everything I failed to write about for th past week. Then I can move on........


  • I have to start off by saying that I will really miss my godfather Leroy Baker Sr. He was a simple man who believed in hard work and taking care of his family. Following these principles can make for a rewarding life in the end. Let's move on.
  • The coffee addiction is getting better for me. I'm down to three cups a day. That's a big turn around from 10 to 3. Caffeine is like crack!
  • I saw Barak Obama on Meet the Press Sunday and I can honestly say that I have never felt so confident in a black politican's ability to run for president someday. This man has stature, charisma, and confidence without appearing threatning to anybody. I was very proud to hear him speak. He also sounds like a practical thinker who can relate to issues from the right and the left. He might not be ready for 2008, but if the Democrats have any chance to regain some of the moderates who have been voting Republican lately Obama needs to be a huge voice in the party.
  • There is a new drug that helps black patients with heart disease. I think this is great since it seems every black person has someone in their family with heart disease or high blood pressure. The only issue now is how much is this stuff going to cost and will Medicade pay for it. If not, it's a big tease for allot of people.
  • The Hornets are 0-3. The Saints lost 43-17 Sunday. I am not going to make any comments about my teams because I'm trying to be positive and I can't think of anything good to say.
  • Queen Latifah's rendition of Simply Beautiful is simply great. She even got Al Green to help out and sing background. This sister is talented. I never thought of her as sexy before this song. Now I want to give her my phone number. She gets number one song status for a few weeks followed by Jill Scott's Whatever Whenever and Drop it Like It's Hot by Snoop. Snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop! That is the jam.
  • Finally, I was at the drugstore Sunday and I have to get this off of my chest. Until black people get some respect for women and the elderly again and stop all that disrespectful behavior, it doesn't matter who the damn president is. We will never progress. I don't care if Martin and Malcolm came back and ran on the same ticket. It wouldn't make a difference. We have to have respect for each other especially for the women because they have to carry our futures in their womb and the elderly because they have already paid the dues to be respected.

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Time to move on!

Well Bush pulled it out again. The Republican strategy is simple. Everyone in your party sticks to the same message which energize your base. This also makes people in the middle get the impression that your message is right because no one in your party goes against it. This is why Democrats look like flip floppers all the time. They also picked up seats in the Senate and the House. I am not surprised by this at all. As a matter of fact, I predicted it. I didn't want to vote for Bush or Kerry. The Democrats have no clear message about anything. They are trying to be liberal and conservative at the same time. There is no backbone to stand up for their position. The Republicans take advantage of scared people in the country and make them think that Al Queda and homosexuals are going to come parading down the street in their cities if they don't vote for their candidate even if he is incompetent and has a few friends of mine fighting a war that they didn't have to right now. How else can you explain Ohio who has lost more jobs than anybody in the last four years and 57% of the voters saying the economy is bad, still voting for Bush because of his moral values. I guess gay marriage is more important than feeding your family. The best thing about this election is that it's over and I can go back to focusing on the 12,000 dollars I lost in salary the last year and the 450.00 I lost on my Saints ticket. Maybe having a republican senator can help us get some coastline restoration money so my house isn't blown into Lake Ponchatrain after the next major storm. Of course, since Vitter is just going to vote for every republican policy regardless if it's good for Louisiana or not, I probably need to up my flood insurance. Just to make sure I am not taking sides, I think Landrieu is going to do the same thing for the democrats. The bottomline is that all Americans, poor, rich, black, white and everybody else are caught in the middle of a game for control of our tax dollars by corporations, lobbyists, unions and special interest groups that really run the country. I hope I don't run into anybody that voted for Bush standing next to me at Job Service in the next few months like he won something.

Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Judging by the long line I stood in today I am guess this will be a record turnout for the election. I am really not feeling like anything will change by this election the way everyone else thinks it will. We are already in the middle of the war and there is no turning back. There are some people that think Kerry is against the war. He voted for the war not against it. The only difference between he and Bush is that he says he would have gotten more help to do the same thing that Bush did. I am not a fan of Kerry. Any other election year he would be getting blown out right about now. The best thing he has going for him is the fact that he is running against George Bush. But I had to vote because I didn't want P Diddy to kill me.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Thoughts from a Hot Office

I haven't been posting as much as I used to because I have actually been doing work at my desk. The air conditioning just came on again after being off all morning. Since my body is back to normal temperature. I can sit here and catch up on everything from the past week at one time.

  • If anybody reading this knows a way to kick a ten cup a day coffee addiction please let me know. I can't believe I drink this much coffee when I don't even have to get up that early like I used to.
  • How do you lose 400 tons of explosives in a war zone? Somebody has to start getting fired or demoted for this kind of stuff. It's no surprise that soldiers don't want to go on certain missions around Iraq. How come Bush never admits to any mistake? I honestly think he felt the war was the right move at the time he decided to go but now he can't possibly believe that everything we did was right.
  • Bush is up by over 20 points in Louisiana. Nevertheless, I have to vote or die like the slogan says. I just think it's totally ludicrous that a candidate can lose the popular vote and still be president. We have to get some other choices to vote for. There has to be enough unsatisfied people in this country to develop at least two more parties. Variety of choice is always a good thing.
  • How can a house be running as a meeting place for drug addicts for years in a working class neighborhood and nobody say nothing? It's even worse that the state representative lives right behind the house. I am ashamed of my old neighborhood. You can't complain when something happens if you have a drug club open in your block and never call the police to report it.
  • Every public school I went to in this city is failing and their scores are getting worse. It's amazing that I can type this post on my own. If we don't get this school thing working better, people are never coming home.
  • I watched and listened to Red Sox fans this morning and I must say that it was actually kind of heart warming. I know what it feels like to route for a losing team. The relief they must feel has to be great. I can only imagine what it will feel like to see the Saints lineup introduced at the SuperBowl. Of course, that probably won't happen until I am 95 and suffering from severe dementia so lets just forget it. I can almost picture my great grandchildren touching the rails of my hospital bed saying "great grandpa, wake up. They finally made it out of the second round of the playoffs" and my pacemaker exploding.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Red Sox Win!

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap

Thank goodness this is over. Now we can focus on football and the Saints breaking their curse. I have a question. Can you really call Boston cursed? Celtics, Patriots, Bruins, all had championships. Even the Red Sox have been to the World Series before. I couldn't feel sorry for them. Try one playoff win in 37 years.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Am I an addict?

I think I may be an internet and messenger addict. It started off small. I would log on for a few minutes here and there and never really worried about it. Now, I can't go to sleep without logging in to see who sent me a message. My friends list has went from around 10 to about 100. I cleaned it out last night and realized that I didn't even talk to some of those people. Because of finances and circumstance, my personal life has become confined mostly to my house, in front of the tv or computer. I don't mind being home and everything but I feel a need to be out and meeting and talking with people. I haven't been able to do this allot lately and the internet has taken it's place. Last night I watched some old wrestling tapes. Tonight, I think I am going to do the same thing. I need to give my eyes a rest from that monitor.
I'm drinking coffee again this morning which is crazy. I'm trying not to drink the entire pot the way I did yesterday. I didn't sleep late so I guess it's ok. I have been waiting on a phone call from a job oppurtunity and it hasn't come. A letter saying I wasn't hired hasn't come either. Why are people expected to send a resume, cover letter, thank you letter and everything else but it is ok for a company to not tell you anything without having to call them every five minutes. I'm not calling anymore. I guess I will be here at the Link for a little while longer. I hope I'm not starting to accept being poor.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Hump Day

I'm still suffering from writer's block but I have a few things on my mind I want to put down.

I have got to stop drinking 10 cups of coffee a day. This is really not healthy.


I can't believe the Yankees are choking. Personally, I'm not pulling for either team when the World Series starts but Schilling pitched 7 innings on one good leg and the other one bleeding. You have to respect that even if you don't follow baseball. I personally wished neither one would have made it because they are going to dominate sports the whole week. The only good thing is that the two franchises really don't like another and that is always good entertainment.


Everybody keeps screaming get out the vote but if your state is pretty much decided in the race for president, your vote is just symbolic. The electoral college is the most outdated system.



I saw the Marlon Gusman commercial for sherriff last night. It has the family of Victor Gant's murdered girlfriend on it blaming Warren Riley for not protecting her. That is a serious commercial. They are basically saying Riley knew she was going to get killed and didn't do anything. If that's true, why would he run for office anyway. Also, I can't stand Marlon Gusman because he represents the old mind state or New Orleans politics. I guess I won't be voting for any of them.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Tuesday's Just as Bad

Man I am so dead on my feet today. I have writers block and my nerves are bad from drinking too much coffee. This is a perfect example of my typical day here at the Link. I helped two users with login problems. I ran two reports to complete something else I needed to do. My total time elapsed for these tasks...........20 minutes.

I'm trying to work a full week without leaving early to have a beer at the lounge down the street or taking a three hour lunch break but it's hard. The least they could do is let me log into Yahoo or Aol to pass the time. The firewall won't let me so I am stuck sitting here staring at people walking up Canal St. What a way to spend 40 hours out of the week.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Blue Monday

Man I can't believe it's so hot outside. I thought it was supposed to be cool now. I'm tired of sweating.

I think it's time for everyone that is a fan of the Saints to admit the truth. The Saints offense has to play a perfect game in order for this team to win. Brooks threw and intercept but so did Culpepper. The difference is that the Vikings at least made us punt a few times while we let them do anything they wanted to on offense. This is the story of the season. We have no defense at all. We can't make a playoff run if we can't take away one thing from any team we play. I say we win about 4 more games and finish 6-10.

HOW IN THE HELL IS BUSH UP BY 8 POINTS. John Kerry is blowing it. I can't believe that the majority of Americans want to continue with four more years of the same thing.




Thursday, October 14, 2004

BET Pulls Eminem Video

Micheal Jackson is pissed so BET pulled the Eminem video. They haven't pulled all the videos that make black women look like cheap trash but will pull this one for Mike. With that being said, I have a message for Eminem. Just because he looks crazy now, doesn't mean that black people want anybody that's not black making fun of him.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

This is why business will never come back to this city.

WWLTV.com | News for New Orleans, Louisiana | Local News
I have been distracted the last few days but now I am thinking clearly again and need to write some things.

Get Well Uncle Leroy
It's Bush vs. Kerry for Round 3 tonight. I hope this time one of them will answer the question correctly. I'm tired of Kerry not answering what he will do and Bush defending what he has already done.

Monday, October 11, 2004

I got up Sunday morning and it was raining terribly. It was raining so bad that my girl and baby stayed home for this game because the weather was so bad. There was a wreck on the I-10 going west that made everyone exit before the high rise and fight redlights all the way through NO East. I had to go pick up two other people who had just got off from work that morning. Some genius decided to block off the dry parking under the interstate that's usually free and charge 10.00. I parked three blocks away and had to walk through a down pour just to get to the dome. When I got in the dome, I froze to death because nobody thought to turn the air conditioning down and everyone was wet. What I got to see for all my trouble was a team that can't follow directions, had bad play calling and takes entire quarters of the game off. I want some kind of acknowledgement from Haslett, Loomis, or somebody today.If they don't acknowledge the fans then acknowledge the fact that this team either needs better players or better coaches. Please don't say you played hard and it's the little things. Don't tell me about how this Tampa team is better than most people think. You couldn't stop Brian Griese, Charles Lee, Micheal Pittman and Ken Dilger. What in the hell is going to happen next week? I should have taken that money that I spent on three tickets and fixed my roof that just happened to start leaking this weekend from the 8 inches of rain. Maybe if I wasn't sitting in the dome watching Orlando Ruff let Ken Dilger look like John Mackie, I might have been able to keep my carpet from staining from the rain water. I hope to see all you guys at the Viking game to witness if Culpepper and company can top what Peyton did last year. This is what's going to be on the average fan's mind next year Tom Benson starts looking for those season ticket sales and trying to talk his way into a new stadium. On my way home yesterday, my cousin actually turned to me and said "it might be a good thing if they leave and get a fresh start" That's what happens when you keep giving fans the same bulls@! for four years straight and then acting like it's their fault that you can't get the job done.

Friday, October 8, 2004

I'm so sick of them bringing this up in the middle of the season. Can I just enjoy football for the next 12 weeks. I will say one thing. She's the one that brought up the new stadium idea a few weeks ago. Nobody in New Orleans government said anything. The people in this area already know we can't afford a new stadium. Now she's saying no like she is turning down something we asked for. I hope she is not using us as a way to show the rest of the state she is standing up to the big bad city and their team. I'm starting to think she is turning this into a big political game for her own purposes. The strangest thing is that even if they don't do anything, no one in this area will ever see that money go towards somethiung they can see.

Thursday, October 7, 2004

When Da MC's Came to Live Out Da Name

I am now going to sit here and list my top ten MC's off all time. Let me just say that I really don't care if no one agrees with me or not. This is my list on my blog and that makes it correct. Many people got removed and put back on several times. The criteria is simple, I have to be able to listen to your lyrics, feel your energy, and you have to say something that sounds like you put thought into it. You can be a member of a group and be listed by yourself. With that criteria in mind I give you my top ten from 10-1.




This was supposed to be the opening to my top ten list. You will not see a top ten list here. Lately I have been trying to rekindle my fire for hip hop and have been listening to lots of old and new material. I have realized that I can't make this list and hold it to only ten. I also can't decide who's number one. Ice Cube was always my favorite during my teens but lately his music has slipped. Tupac was my favorite in my early 20's. Mos Def is my favorite right now and KRS 1 is probably better than all of them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love too many MC's to rank them at all so for now we are scrapping that list.

Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Mental Stimulation

I'm at my desk this morning and the time seems to be flying by pretty fast. The weather is good and my body's feeling good from playing basketball. It's always good to come back with a real good day after a real bad one. I'm waiting on a big phone call that could change something so everybody keep their fingers crossed. Now onto other stuff......


Dick Cheney is one scary dude. I watched the debate last night and if you think I want him to be president if something happens to Bush you are crazy. If he is ever sworn in, a brother is going to need to learn to tap dance. He has mastered the art of looking so serious that even if it's proven that he lied it still looks honest.

There's a report out this morning that Saddam hasn't had any weapons programs since 1998. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6188101/. Shouldn't this be the winning report for John Kerry. It doesn't matter if he was given wrong information or not. Bush has to stand up and be accountable for telling lies to the American public to get support for a war that was his personal agenda. Stop sending Colin and Condelezza out there to do what you should be doing yourself.

Cheney mentioned during the debate last night that he didn't know black women had the highest rate of new AIDS cases in America. Shouldn't the second man in charge of the country know when a section of the population is getting a deadly disease at an alarming rate?

Message to ESPN.........Thanks for putting Mike and Mike on in the morning as a TV show but please get rid of Dream Job. I can't stand shows where you compete to win a job doing something other people have worked their asses off for years to get.

I want to send a special thanks to VH1 for making the hip hop history documentary. You actually included graffiti and breakdancing and gave those old pioneers a chance to get some shine on national TV. The first two episodes have been great and you guys dug up some nice footage of underground performances. Episode 2 with Run DMC made me kind of sad. You know they are never going to perform again since the Jam Master is deceased. Black on black crime is a bitch.

Note to Shell.........If Byron Scott doesn't want the personal trainers at practice then why in the hell did Baron Davis and Jamal Magloire bring them? You see why people are starting to hate NBA players.

I'm coming back this evening with my 10 mc's list. Also I am finally going to get rid of all my old and scratched CD's to start my collection all over again. That is sure to be an emotional experience. I'm outta here with a Rest in Peace to Rodney Dangerfield. You will finally get some respect.


Tuesday, October 5, 2004

As I stare onto Canal St. from my low paying job. I have a few things to get off my chest this morning.......

  • Hello Fall weather! I am so happy to see you because I am tired of sweating all the time. I hope this last for awhile.
  • There's allot of stress involved when a new guy starts at your job and makes more money than you. Being a black professional is a hard hustle.
  • Cheney vs. Edwards tonight..............who cares what the vice president thinks.
  • We should care because Cheney really runs the White House along with Rumsfeld so everyone should pay attention this evening.
  • Brooks and Grant fighting on the plane. That was great. The rest of the team should have been fighting too after that performance. Somebody should be fighting Haslett.
  • Baseball Note: Sammy Sosa has done so much for that team and it's a damn shame people are treating him like a second rate player. Dusty Baker never liked him anyway.
  • Baseball Note 2: World Series Pick is Angels vs. Astros.
  • Is the truancy department of New Orleans working yet? There are kids walking up and down Canal St. all day long like it's summer time.
  • Am I the only one happy that Shyne's album isn't selling http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.2748. This just goes to show you that just because you go to jail or get shot, you still have to put out some quality material in order to sell.
  • Method Man is upset about the direction of his show.http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.2725 Didn't he read the script to beging with. That show was bad from day one.
  • Why can't anyone involved with rap put out anything worthy of quality entertainment without being foolish. Everybody has to be in a strip club or the project. We wonder why people stereotype us in roles like that. There are millions of hard working, everyday black people that get up early, pay bills and support their children. This is the most under recognized section of the population. The media either focuses on the millionaires or the welfare recipients. No one cares about the people in the middle. No wonder I children have such low self esteem.

Monday, October 4, 2004

Football Hangover

There could not have been a worse weekend for a Louisiana football fan. LSU and Saints both sucked and got embarrased. I have never seen a Nick Saban team not prepared to play and overwhelmed liked Saturday at Georgia. That is what happens when you run into a team that is hell bent on revenge and is clicking. The score gets pretty bad. As for the other team, I won't talk about them. At least LSU lost to the number 3 team. The Saints lost to a 0-3 team playing in front of 20,000 people. How can anyone expect a playoff berth with this going on

Friday, October 1, 2004

Poor Colin

There isn't another man in the country that's a more perfect example of the modern day black man than Colin Powell. Here's a man that started with nothing. He joined the army as a way out. Through hard work and the right attitude he worked his way through the ranks as a respected leader. He did all of that to end up working for a man that is less qualified than he is. Not only that, he recieves none of the credit and has to stand out there and take all of the blame. If that's not a black man's life then I don't know what is.

Kerry vs. Bush Debate

It was about time John Kerry stood up and actually explained what it is he plans to do with Iraq and national security. I still wish he would have gotten into more detail. I thought he did a fairly decent job last night and he may have won it. It's hard for him to make certain comments because his voting record can always be used against him when it comes to the war. The fact that he voted for the use of force and is now criticizing it makes him look like he is flip flopping. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind after getting into a situation and seeing how things really are. This is what human beings do. The amazing thing about George Bush is that no matter what evidence or lack of evidence is exposed, he never backs down from the fact that he did the right thing. He can't at this point. If he did, he would ruin his legitimacy as commander in chief and lose the presidency in a landslide. I understand why Bush has to feel the way he does. My problem is with all the people in the country that agree with him. After all the evidence that the intelligence was faulty and no weapons of mass destruction being found can you still think that we did the right thing by going into this war. We should have used those troops in Afghanistan until we found Osama and got rid of the Taliban and Al Queda first. Then you could have dealt with Saddam, Iran, N. Korea or anybody else that you think is a threat to the country. George Bush is banking on all of those Americans with one track minds that can't decipher information for themselves to win this election. From the looks of it, there is allot of them out there.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Watching the Streetcar Pass By

I'm staring out the window at work this morning. Business is really slow. I don't know what drives me crazy more, the lack of money or the lack of action. At least I have time to get things off of my chest like.............


  • What the hell is Amato thinking letting school workers do anything for him personally at all. Did anybody tell him what city he was working in. Next time, board up your own damn windows and save yourself some trouble.
  • What in the hell do we need a debate from candidates for sheriff for. What are they going to talk about. The job isn't that complicated. The brothers come in, you lock them up.
  • I should be taken out and whipped for forgetting to call my grandmother Sunday and wish her happy birthday. There are no excuses.
  • Happy Birthday Geraldine Louvier!
  • I think I am becoming addicted to coffee. There was a time when I cringed just to drink one cup. I am now up to 8 cups a day. I wonder if that's why my hands are always shaking. This can't be good.
  • I think that physcially I have been feeling as good as I have felt in a long time. I feel like I'm about 21 years old the last few weeks. I think it was working out with Jerald in the park. I need to keep it up.
  • Note to Shell: Mashburn's done, no salary cap space....we are looking at the lowest attendance in the league unless the high school kid goes off.
  • Note to Shell Part 2: I'm not saying that our team is going to the playoffs yet, but I have a feeling this is the year that AB makes the pro bowl either way. He had finally hit his stride as a player. Now if we could just score some touchdowns.
  • Note to Shell Part 3: Can we get a blow out for once. Lets just have one game where we get to sit back and laugh a little in the fourth quarter.

The last thing on my mind for right now is this. Why does wrestling need to have stories about women losing babies and stuff on tv. Lets get back to the good old days where two guys hated oen another because of the title and let them battle it out for a few months. Nothing is entertaining about a miscarriage and if you have ever been through losing a child of any kind you damn sure wouldn't find this amusing. It's times like this I wish the WCW was still running so I could change the damn channel.

I'm Out for now................PEACE!


Thursday, September 23, 2004

Lagniappe

  • The fact that Ivan is still striking parts of Louisiana and Texas today, a week after he hit land, has to make him the greatest storm ever. This is unbelievable.
  • I understand you can't give in to terrorist, but shouldn't the U.S. at least try and negotiate to keep some of those hostages alive. They could have at least made them think the prisoners would be released until we could rescue them.
  • Why is there a big debate about using the dome as a shelter during storms. WE PAY FOR THAT BUILDING! Dan Rather, you must really hate Bush real bad to make up some fake stuff. You know if Bush wins CBS won't even get invited to the press conference.
  • The cenus reported today that Cleveland was the poorest city in the nation. New Orleans ranked 17th. I just want to make a note that Dallas, Atlanta, Miami and a whole bunch of other cities were ranked above us. Why can't our local news report this stuff.

  • Finally..........Rest in Peace to the Big Bossman, Big Bubba...Ray Traylor.

Just Met the Gov

There was a press conference in the room next to our office and I got to meet the governor this morning. She seems like she can make a good pot of cajun gumbo. I wanted to give her my ideas on the Saints stadium but the state trooper that was with her was kind of big and so was his gun.

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

I parked my jeep for this morning and this brother came up to me asking if I had some pliers so he could work on his bike. I didn't know anything about him but I could tell that he was not doing so well. I loaned him the pliers and went inside the office thinking that I wouldn't see him or those pliers again. To my surprise he actually came in the office and brought them back. He began telling me about how he was homeless and was trying to find a place to work. I directed him to a few places and he rode off. After he left I got to thinking about the number of brothers I pass everyday or see out my office window that life has totally beat down. The one thing I will never understand is how black men can hurt and mess over one another when we all share the same experience. I could have kept walking and ignored that brother this morning. If I did, am I not validating the same thoughts that everyone else has about him and in turn applying these ideas to my own self. We will never be able to change anything until we get our men to look in the mirror and be proud of what they see. Having a few brothers that are successful will not benefit the community as a whole. Sooner or later, we are going to have to come up with a way for all of our men to feel dignified.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

As I Sit Here sipping on Coffee

I have been having trouble coming up with a nice topic to blog on. My head is full of all these random thoughts and can't get focused. I need to get some of them out. Things like.................

  • We now have a new school board in place accept for one person. The citizens of New Orleans has just made Mr. Amato "King of Education". I don't know if a superintendent that is hired by the board should have more power than the board itself.
  • I don't really care who the sheriff is but why is Marlon Gusman trying to be the sheriff instead of a city councilman anyway. There must be some serious money to be made at that position. Has he ever been in any kind of law enforcement before?
  • I know this is America but can we please find a way to make these brothers pull there pants up? I'm tired of seeing your skid marks walking up the street. You guys need to ask yourself if style is worth you walking up the street holding your pants up with your hand to keep from being exposed. By the way, STOP BUYING UP ALL THE 3X,4X and 5X SHIRTS!! I have to ride all over the world looking for a shirt that fits me because some little stick man has bought them all up.
  • Music Note 1.- who told Nelly he had enough talent to put out two cd's at the same time. He sucks when he puts out one. Teenage girls are killing music.
  • Music Note 2. - If things were right in this world, Anthony Hamilton's Charlene would have to be the number one song in the country for about 12 weeks. Call My Name by Prince should be number 2.
  • Music Note 3. - Except for Outkast and Ludacris, why do all the rappers from Atlanta sound the same. I know New Orleans isn't much better but come on!
  • Last Music Note - NO MORE USHER! PLEASE!!!!
  • What the hell was Dan Rather thinking when he ran that story on Bush. If you didn't verify all the damn info wait until you do. Now you have energized his base and just scared off any other media source for running any story about this. FOUR MORE YEARS!
  • Note to Shell: Please don't let the Hornets think about trading Baron Davis for Vince Carter.
  • 2nd Note to Shell: There is no excuse for that defense not to stop the run any better than last year. It's got to be the coaching. By the way, I will not mention their name until we are in the playoffs.
  • If Flava Flav keeps messing with Brigette Neilson the Surreal Life, I am going to go back and remove Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos from my best songs list. Hip hop is being set back 20 years with this foolishness. The Surreal Life is for B list entertainers. Flav is part of one of the top five hip hop groups of all time. There is nothing B-list about that.
  • Finally, I want to give a shout out to Willie "Kingfish" Harris who I saw at the Saints game Sunday. It's good to run into guys that took me under their wing when I was just a wild 20 year old trying to be in management. Willie, Freddie, Phillip, Eugene, and Tim all showed me the ropes and I hope all of you are doing well.

Monday, September 20, 2004

Happy Anniversary

Today is my parents 35th wedding anniversary. Congratulations and I love both of you.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Thoughts While Sipping on Bourbon

Ivan is gone. I'm sorry for the Alabama Coast and Pensacola. They got it bad. I hope they are all doing ok and thank God it didn't come here. At least I got to check out my boy's house in Mississippi and take a nice ride with my family. Other than that, this was a real strange week. It's time to get back to normal. So on to my weekly random thoughts.............................

Barry Bonds hit his seven hundred homer last night. The media must really not like him because if this was anybody else, they would have cut into regular programming for that.

This message is for whoever went in my friend's house and stole his stuff while he was running from the hurricane: I hope you realize that the tv was broke and you sell it to somebody who comes back and kicks your A@! really bad! Damn shame!

Did I read that Oprah gave her entire audience new cars? Why didn't anybody call me? I could have used one of those.

Message to all the companies and managers that made their employees stay at work Tuesday: Where you watching the news? The entire city was leaving. What makes you think that your business is so special that your employees should stick around and risk getting caught in a category four storm.

I'll be back later..............

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Here Comes Ivan

I hope you make up your mind and get it over with so I can get back to normal.

Friday, September 10, 2004

Piece of Mind

So I get into this car accident today. I just totally lost my focus and ran a red light. I hit a young brother driving an Oldsmobile and damaged the passenger side of his ride. It's a good thing he was a working brother like myself and we handled it the old school way(without the police involved). I was really shaken up after getting in my first wreck since I was 18, but I am disturbed by something worse than that. I can't figure out what was on my mind at the time I blacked out and kept going through that intersection.

It really disturbs me that my brain has so many things going on inside that I can't even keep track of my own thoughts. Is there something wrong about thinking about every decision you have made since you were 15 years old? There are just too many decisions that I either regret making or wish I had done differently to feel good about the status of my personal life at this time. As much as I try to forget about things that are in the past, I can't help but realize that my life would have been much more fulfilling had I made more decisions with my personal satisfaction as the only factor. I never thought I would say this but I wish I would have been born a more selfish person. It's hard to feel like you could be doing more for yourself and not feel satisfied. It's worse when people around you seem to be totally comfortable with their situation and you never feel right about your own. It makes you think that something must be wrong with you. How can all these people not be bothered with what's going on and you are driving yourself crazy. I know it's not healthy to be thinking like this all the time but I have been going through this for a long time and it probably won't end until my heart stops beating.


I would give anything for an hour of clear thought.

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

This is What I Thinking About Right Now

I am real sleepy tonight......

Seemed like a good time to share a few thoughts for the week...........

  • I have this job interview tomorrow with some people I don't really like all that much. This is where I have come to in my life. There was a time when I never would have even taken the time to pursue this job again. If anyone out there really knows me, this is going to be real hard for me to get through. This is what happens when you have to be responsible for the life of another human being.
  • I went help my dad move something at my deceased aunt's house yesterday. For some reason that house made me think of her and my other deceased relatives. I was kind of down for the rest of the evening. I'm such a over emotional dude.
  • Since I am on the subject of the deceased, I want to send a R.I.P. shout out to Renaldo, Demetrius, and Angelina.

On to more random things..............

  • If all the NOPD has time for is to pull over my little sister who would never hurt a fly much less commit a crime, we are in big trouble.
  • The best part about Labor Day this year.......CSI marathon!
  • It was cool to see my grandfather get out of the house for a change and actually get to hang out with the rest of the family. I still wish we could make an agreement that for as long as he and my grandmother are here(which could be a very long time) we hold all family gatherings on Benton St. to make their participation less difficult.
  • Why is everyone so concerned with what Kerry and Bush did in the 60's? Is that going to make my bank account lose or gain money any faster if Kerry went to Vietnam and Bush didn't.
  • Saints Note: How can a team this talented have their fan base this not excited . After the last three years, you just know something bad is going to happen in the end and we won't be able to explain it.
  • LSU Note: Why did LSU get passed up in the polls by two teams that didn't even play?
  • Black Coaches Note: I know most black people that follow sports are routing for my Tyrone Willingham to succeed. He is doing a pretty bad job right now and I hope no one screams racism when he gets fired. Part of realizing equality is that you get an equal chance to try, fail and pay the same price as your counterparts. The bigger question is, with all the talk of needing black coaches, it's hard to make the argument when Tyrone only gets 2 of the top 200 players in the country to sign. If the young black studs are going to play for Stoops, Saban, Carroll and the rest of them then why does the system need to change. Winning is all that counts in college sports, because winning equals profit.
  • Last Football Note: Why does the NFL need to have a concert before the first game. If I want to hear singing and watch women dance I will hit the club. When I watch football all I need is a scoreboard and that yellow first down line on the screen ( a great invention).
  • Hasn't this internet thing went to far when you can log into Yahoo through your cellphone. Shouldn't you have enough offline friends that you don't need your buddy list?
  • Somebody has to loan me 30.00 dollars so I can go buy the Goodfellas DVD.
  • I am so excited about the Goodfellas release that I am going to post my top ten movies list tomorrow. The strange thing is that Goodfellas may not be on it.

And Finally................

Since my office moved from Calhoun St. to Canal St., I have had the chance to go through the main part of the city on a regular basis the last few weeks. What is up with all the brothers not working? Why are all those grown men standing and sitting around all day long in the city and no one seems like they are angry at being out of work. I'm telling you we are in trouble.


Friday, September 3, 2004

Random Thoughts

It's Friday and I'm ready for my three day weekend. I didn't have any bad dreams last night so I think today I will write a lil something. I have a few things on my mind this morning.......

  • My baby dances, she sings, she claps and has a good time. If she would just stand up and walk on her own I would be in heaven.
  • Since she is doing all this new wonderful stuff, I am starting to come to terms with the fact that this football season, the big tv may have to be shared with Barney, Sesame Street or Dragon Tales...............Maybe she will like the 3-4 defense and the 2 deep zone better.
  • Speaking of football......... I know I may be biased, but I think Slick is taking to the sport like a fish to water. He should be fine as long as his coaches aren't stupid, he pays attention and practices, and his parents can stand watching the baby of the family get hit without running on the field and getting us all thrown out of the stadium.
  • Special note to Shell: Baron Davis wants a trade because he has no offensive help. I thought he wanted to take all the shots anyway.
  • I don't know if either one of these guys will ever win a ring again but I do know one thing. After watching this rape trial play out, wouldn't you want to be Shaq instead of Kobe right now. He's got a beautiful black wife, good kids, and good parents. He never gets into trouble. He never embarrases himself or his people. Plus, he's a cool guy that can hang out with presidents or in the projects and fit in. You don't have to like the way he plays, but you got to like his lifestyle.
  • I appreciate President Bush trying to protect me from terrorism but I have a little message for him. People in the hood can't focus too much on global terror. We are more concerned with the terror from the dude around the corner that hasn't had a job since his daddy was president. How about we put some of that war money back into our own communities here. We could do allot in New Orleans with an extra billion dollars.
  • Can someone tell me why Orleans Parish teachers still can't get paid on time.
  • And while your answering that question, please tell me why governor Blanco and Mr. Benson are playing with my emotions and talking about a new stadium. Can they just keep their discussion a secret please!
  • That Orleans Parish Sherrif's position must be a money making machine. There are 50 people running for that office. Keeping negroes locked up is big business. Black on black crime in America should be considered a Fortune 500 enterprise.
  • I was looking at my top ten hip hop lists and realized that I really love rap music. I have loved it since the 5th grade but that almost everything that is coming out now is uncreative, sad, self destructive and being made overly ignorant to satisfy the lust of white surbanan kids to be entertained by the plight of the black existance. It's ok to reflect the reality of your surroundings but it should be never be made to look like we enjoy the struggle. Who in the hell can be happy about seeing brothers get shot? What sista can feel good about being disrepected? I think some of these artist have allot of sense and probably don't listen to or believe half of the stuff they make themselves. If that is the case, you are no more than a modern day Steppin Fetchit! You might as well paint your face black and put a bone through your nose like Sambo. The sad thing is that Step and them guys didn't have a choice. You do and still choose to be stupid and that makes you sad!
  • And while nobody loves the black woman's form more than me, do every one of them in a video have to be naked and shaking their ass. Why does a song that has nothing to do with a woman or a party need to have a half naked woman in the video? Wait a minute..........I'm sorry. I forgot 70% of the records that are coming out now are all about parties and women. 20% are about killing your own people and the other 10% are really good but you won't know about those because black radio won't play them.......OK, I'm moving on now.
  • Did I really make two list about hip hop music and not include one, Outkast, De La Soul, Common or Roots record? I will fix this soon.

That's it for now. The hip hop tirade has my head hurting now and I need some coffee.