Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Mind Blowin Volume 1

I started writing this yesterday. I had to wipe out the first part and change it. I want to say rest in peace to my grandpa Walter Harris Sr. In honor of him, I will do just what I think he would have wanted me to. I am going to work, and move on. He lived a full life and I need to live mine that way.
Now that we have that out of the way, I decided to give all this random stuff a name so it would appear that I am creative. Without further ado, I present to you Mind Blowin Volume 1.

R.I.P. Johnnie Cochran

Message to the Juice................You better be careful to not even jaywalk.

Have you ever been so bored at a meeting that you told a joke to yourself and then started laughing out loud? Happened to me yesterday.

Record store moment #1 - I was bobbing my head to this song on the speaker and I couldn't recognize the MC. I asked the cashier and was stunned when he told me the song was by WILL FREAKING SMITH! Unbelievable moment.

Record store moment #2 - I realized after 15 years of shopping Tower Records in the French Quarter, that they are racially profiling their customers. All the 50 cent, G-unit, and hardcore hip hop is behind the counter.

I am not an expert in science to have evidence of this and I hope this doesn't sound prejudice or condones breeding slaves in anyway......But when it comes to bodies, the African American woman is the Rolls Royce of nature. There isn't a workout tape or training regiment created that can turn you into Serena Williams. That's strictly DNA.

The biggest problem with people in New Orleans is not their lack of education. It's their complacency to sit back and watch group after group of politicians and outsiders steal and misuse every single resource available. We probably would be so uneducated if this didn't happen.

The Michael Basden show, 'Lust,Lies and Love' may be the best radio show ever. We also need to read some of his books.

Finally.....Note to New Orleans Parking Department,
The least you can do if you want me to use these overpriced meters that you installed is to make them able to use their damn debit cards.

Monday, March 28, 2005

MC's I Hate

Daily Views, Pop Culture, Rants, and News: Hey You!! Put that Microphone Down!(A handful of the wackest MC's)

Inspired by the Humanity Critic, who's list is just dead one correct, I could not resist naming a few of the guys who should just step away from the mic. Make sure you click on the link and read his list first. While he states the obvious offenders, I am going to focus my list on a different kind of sucker MC. I am going to call out all the guys or girls who get love from mainstream radio and TV but really have no skills. These are the folks I think deserve to get put on blast. I won't mention Nelly and Chingy because everyone already knows how I feel about them.

Trina - Lets face it, if it wasn't for the fact that 75% of black males from 12-40 wanted to sleep with her, she would not have any career. There's no excuse for her being this famous while Bahamadia is somewhere working 9-5 in an office building. She better be working out daily to keep that figure or it's all over.

Drag on - People give him a pass because he has that Ruff Ryder chain around his neck. The guy has no flow. Juvenille stole the show from him on his first record. You are lucky if you can understand anything he is saying.

Baby, Da numba 1 Stunna - It's a shame that he had all that young talent at Cash Money and decided to take the spotlight for himself. You can do that when you actually have talent too. Here's Baby's whole attraction in a nutshell, he's ignorant, rich, spends money on stupid shit and can't talk. That's just the guy you want as a role model for an uneducated city like New Orleans. And yet, he's platinum everytime out.

The G-Unit except for Young Buck - Is it just me, or could you take every song from 50, LLoyd Banks and Game, mixed them up in a pile and couldn't tell the difference from one or the other.

Cassidy - This is who I would make a dis record for if I had a deal. I would just like to be the one to destroy his career.

Jermaine Dupri- Jermaine has allot of street cred and he did land Janet Jackson. However, please name me one pure classic hip hop song he was featured on as an MC. JD has got to find some more little kids to rob.

Foxy Brown - see Trina

Black Eyed Peas - I haven't seen it written anywhere so I guess I will do it. I saw the Peas open for Public Enemy about 6 years ago and I can honestly say that in that span of time there hasn't been another group that sold out the integrity of their music for commercial and pop success like the Black Eyed Peas. They used to tour with an acoustic band. Now, you can find them on every commercial for anything pimping themselves. It's one thing when you step into the game as a sellout. It's another when you have an underground following and abandon that audience to "Get it Started in Here". There dis record would be track 12 after Cassidy's.

Hip Hop Madness

Lil Kim is going to jail for lying and Beretta kills his wife and gets to go home.

C-Murder stays in jail. Why is the local hip hop community acting like C Murder is Mumiya or somebody? A 16 year old kid is dead. He's not a political prisoner. Even if he didn't do it, he knows who did.

Question.....If the Game/50 Cent beef would have continued, how could Game have ever done a concert? 50 Cent is on every single he puts out.

Everybody should read the monthly column by Who Am I at Hiphopdx.com.

Lil Flip and T.I. got in a fight. It is the humble opinion of Cliff that all the violence from beef in hip hop is due to the fact that none of the mc's involved have no real lyrical talent. Nas and Jay Z battled for a whole year with not one instance of physical confrontation. Why? Because they didn't need to.

Finally, I saw this coming all the way. After reading Chuck D's comments from AllHipHop.Com, how can we ever take P.E. serious again as long as Flavor Flav is in the group. It's truly sad they made him look that bad.

AllHipHop.com : Editorial

AllHipHop.com : Editorial

This is a good article about something I speak on all the time.

March Madness

Since I missed the whole tournament for the most part, I will just touch on the games this weekend..

Louisville 93 West Virginia 85
There was no way WV should have lost this game. They were in a zone from the three point line and still lost. I am not pulling for Louisville now. That team showed me allot of heart.

Illinois 90 Arizona 89
Since Arizona is my team away from home, I was upset about the end of this game. You can't be up by 12 with 2 minutes left and just give the game away. I guess you have to give Illinois some credit for not giving up even though I don't like them.

N. Carolina 88 Wisconsin 82
The heels just had too much talent for Wisconsin in the end. I still don't think they play up to their potential. Roy Williams is their coach so they should lose to Michigan St.

Michigan St. 94 Kentucky 88
The best game of the four was the one I didn't watch a minute of. I was pulling for Kentucky only for Tubby Smith to match Ric Pitino. Did anybody else notice that Sparks got fouled on that three pointer to tie the game?

So it's Louisville, Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan St. For all the talk about the Big Ten being weak this year, I think we are looking at an all Big Ten final game Monday.

Monday, March 21, 2005

I'm Back

After two weeks of not making one single post, I guess it's time for me to start sharing my twisted thoughts with the world again. I didn't cover any of March Madness, the Jackson Trial, or anything else for that matter. Lets see, I am still broke, still black, and still angry for the most part. Basically, nothing has changed. Since Spring is here and most of the bad weather is gone, maybe I will attempt to be more positive. We'll see how good I do with that.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

No More Basketball

I would like to thank the New Orleans city council for finally tackling a problem in the city that had to be addressed. There are just too many kids staying out of trouble by playing basketball in front of their house. Now we have banned basketball in the street and those kids can get into other illegal things because of boredom and lack of recreation. Maybe some of them can walk ten blocks to the park in the area and pretend there are back boards and rims up. This is evidence that a small section of the population runs this whole city.

Wacko Jacko

Now is the time for Micheal Jackson to cut his hair, do some pushups, and grow a beard so he can be prepared for his first week in prison. I haven't been following his trial too closely but from what I read he needs to get ready for at least a few months of time in the slammer. I think it's time to just admit that maybe Micheal was born crazy. If his family was in Gary Indiana right now, he might be the brother that is locked up in the back room and doesn't get to be around the kids. I don't think Joe is to blame for this.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

What do You Believe?

I must admit I stole this idea after reading Scoop Jackson's article on ESPN.com. I thought I could knock out the same column in about 30 minutes. Scoop may be reading this one day and decide to give me a job at Slam Magazine. Even if he doesn't this should be fun. Last week I asked the questions to what I didn't know. Today, I am going to tell you what I believe......

I believe that Gabrielle Ellyse Harris is the cutest baby born since June 11, 1974.

I believe she has good parents.

I believe I have great parents.

I believe that Oddly Perfect may be the third best blog ever created.

I believe the first two best both write on Oddly Perfect.

I believe in sparing the rod and spoiling the child.

I believe that getting hated on by your own race is worst than getting hated on by another.

I believe that Michelle knows more about basketball than any man and I will bet on it.

I believe that Kobe is guilty in some way but was lucky the girl had a questionable history.

I believe that if she would have been a virgin he would still be locked up in Colorado.

I believe Michael Jackson is crazy.

I believe he was born that way and it's not Joe's fault.

I believe he should go to jail for being that close to little boys even if he didn't touch them.

I believe that deep down George Bush wanted to get Saddam for messing with his daddy.

I believe I would have done the same thing.

I believe ego and Haliburton are keeping us there now.

I believe Tupac is in Cuba.

I believe 50 cent can't rap.

I believe Nelly can't either.

I believed that Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde should be considered a top five all time album of any genre.

I believe that if it was about the skills, Rah Digga, Freddie Foxx and the Freestyle Fellowship would all be platinum.

I believe Suge Knight set up Biggie and Pac.

I believe Puff Daddy knows it.

I believe Jamie Foxx deserved the Oscar.

I believe Halle Berry didn't.

I believe Magic was better than Jordan.

I believe that Isiah was better than Bird.

I believe Hakeem was better than Shaq.

I believe Lebron can be better than all of them as soon as he gets obsessed with winning.

I believe that Allen Iverson should be a role model for young brothers because of how he has matured.

I believe that the lord made professional sports as a way for some black people to escape and these million dollar brothers need to start acting like it.

I believe that if it wasn't for the mainstream media influence, Jill Scott would be considered the most beautiful woman on the planet.

I believe Angie Stone would be second.

I believe that Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, Darryl Brister, and any other prominent black man who has been unfaithful to his wife should step out of the public eye.

I believe their existence as public figures validates our image of having no control over our carnal desires.

I believe the fact that sisters defend famous men while persecuting normal brothers shows their own hypocrisy.

I believe one of the hardest things in the world is for two black people to look each other in the eye and say I love you.

I believe that there is no excuse for the best and worst school districts (Orleans and St. Tammany) to be right next to one another.

I believe that it's no coincidence that one is predominately black and the other predominately white.

I believe no one is surprised that the predominately black one (New Orleans) is the worst.

I believe that as you get older you can still be pro black but have to expand and meet people from all races and walks of life to make yourself well rounded.

I believe that doing this doesn't give you an excuse to forget the past.

I believe the past and the present are the same circumstances just under new disguises in the present.

I believe that 100 old white men get together every month and make every major decision in this country.

I believe that most of the people who read this will find that last one believable.

I believe you should never get a job or scholarship just because of your race.

I believe when you don't get it, it's difficult to tell if that was the reason or not.

I believe black people put too much emphasis on clothes and cars.

I believe that as soon as I get some money, gator shoes and a Jaguar convertible will be purchased.

I believed I am tortured because I have the clairvoyance to see what's happening but the ghetto state of mind to still let it happen at the same time.

I believe Tupac had this same problem and that's why I understood him.

I believe that last observation scared me.

I believe there could have been more but I am out of time.

I believe it's time for me to get off from work and post this foolishness.

I believe that I am forever................Clifton Joseph Harris III

Monday, March 7, 2005

Happy Feelings

You can tell when I have about an hour to kill at work and nothing else to do. I am trying to stay in a good mood. I am sitting here listening to Happy Feelings by Maze ft. Frankie Beverly. How about I list what might be the top ten happiest moments of my life so far (non sexual, non party, and non drinking). These are in no order and will probably be changed over the course of the evening except for number one. I don't have the dates for everything.

1. October 30, 2003- This is the day Gabrielle Ellyse Harris was born. I can't remember how it was for her not to be here. I can't wait to understand everything she is trying to say. She is going to be as intelligent as me without the short attention span.
2. June 1, 1992- This was the day I graduated from high school. Looking back on it, I was really the man in high school. That's where I perfected my art of charming people.
3. The Day my Mama graduated from College- At the age of 51 no less. I can't type too much about this one at work because I might start to cry.
4. September 20, 1999 - Mom and Dad's 30 year anniversary. This is the day they renewed their vows. Just a great day all around and nobody left without having fun.
5. January 2001-........HAKIM DROPS THE BALL! HAKIM DROPS THE BALL! BRIAN MILNE RECOVERS AND THE SAINT WIN!!
6. February 1994 - This is when I bought the greatest car of all times. My 1983 Chevy Malibu. I love you baby. That's enough of this one. I am getting emotional again.
7. June 11, 1999 - My 25th birthday surprise party. A whole surprise party just for me. I was actually surpised and had no idea.
8. February 3, Feburary 16, February 23 and March 3 - This is the birthdays of all my siblings. Since I am the oldest I can list all of these days because I was here. I wasn't here for mom and dad so the actual day gets excluded. I'm glad it happened though so mama don't get mad at me.
9. September 9, 1992 - This was the day I started my first full time job as an adult.........Maybe this should have been on the worst day list LOL
10. Blank

It's hard to crack the top ten and after the nine I just mentioned, I had a hard time coming up with a tenth. I have hundreds of good times but these are the ones that stood out to me. I excluded stuff from childhood because I was always happy and would have needed 100 spots for all those years. So, that's what I came up with off the top of my head. Now I am going back to my boring job and look out the window at this dark sky and depressing rain.

Top Five Happy Feelings Edition

1. Happy Feelings - Maze

2. Double Dutch Bus - Frankie Smith

3. Got to Give it Up - Marvin Gaye

4. Rock the Bells - LL Cool J

5. I'm not a Playa - Big Pun

It's Monday Again

It's a Monday morning and I had a bad temper weekend. I am not going to dwell on anything that might have ticked me off. Instead I will just move on for the time being and focus on work and waisting time at work. It makes no sense to harp on the negative every minute. It's really foolish to do that especially when no one else involved gives a damn. Besides, I look too good today to be mad. Oh well.....On to other things.

The LSU women's basketball team has got to get over this mental block when they play Tennesee. They are more talented but Tennesee has beeen winning big for many years and they expect to win. You can watch the game from yesterday and see the edge they have is mental.

The Saints signed another old tackle that we will have to replace in two years.

I'm starting to think the Hornets should have gotten more than Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis for the Sissy Baron.

I curse the man who messed up the unsecured wireless connection at work and now I can't log on to messenger. May your hardrive have 12 viruses.

It's always strange when the biggest player in your group of friends starts going to to his lady friend's church and meeting her family. I feel like the end of an era is approaching.

It's a real strange feeling when I have a conversation with my younger brother and he starts making total sense. Either he is finally getting some maturity or I need to stop drinking. Maybe it's both.

I want to give props to Fat Joe and Nas for staying away from that 50 Cent beef propaganda. We don't need another all out war in hip hop right now. If we could just get Nelly to retire everything will be fine. No, I haven't gotten over the country music song.

Question.......Since
Diary of a Mad Black Woman has been a success at the theater, is it ok to get the bootlegg now? What is the required length of time or amount of money a black movie should make before we bootlegg it? It only cost 5 million to produce so Tyler has his cash.

The Duke-North Carolina game might have been the best college game I have watched in a few years. Sean May is a beast inside and only looks about 12 years old in the face.

I didn't get to see
There Eyes Were Watching God last night. I love Oprah but don't really watch her movies. I have never gotten over Women of Brewster Place. Three days that set black men back 20 years.

Wrestling Note Only for Me:
I have thought long and hard about this and I know what the WWE needs for their product. They need a studio show. They simply have too many people on their roster that are not contributing and get no exposure on Raw or Smackdown. What better way to get younger, less established wrestlers over with the crowd before you put them on the two main shows. This would leave more room in the big shows for longer matches with top talent and give the younger guys a smaller stage to improve their ring performance and interview skills. Characters and storylines could slowly develop and pick up interest until they have enough steam to make primetime or a PPV. You can take Velocity and Bottom Line and tape them in a small studio arena like the old days. Every fan would love this. I know I miss the old Saturday morning and evening studio shows. These people really need to give me a job.

Thursday, March 3, 2005

Negative Energy vs. Synergy

I am young, fairly intelligent, charismatic, good hearted,
responsible brother. I do my best to live my life in the way my
parents tried to raise me to live it. I have a wonderful daughter and
have lots of people in my life that love me and support me. So why do
I feel like I made a wrong turn somewhere?

Maybe I am not on the wrong path. I don't know for sure. I figured by
the time I was 30 years old I would be at a place where I could be
comfortable with myself and my decisions. I don't think that is going
to ever be possible.

That is not a negative statement, although everybody is going to read
it that way. I'm not depressed. I love my life and the people in it.
There are people and situations that I wouldn't change for anything
but there is something practically no one knows about me. I am a
perfectionist. I am really far away from being perfect. I'm barely
crossing the threshold of being good. However, I want to do everything
the right way. It would not be a stretch to say that being perfect
consumes my thoughts. I hate making mistakes and will beat myself up
over a bad decision. I simply cannot be comfortable excepting
situations as "just the way it is". I envy people who can free their
minds by rationalizing a bad situation by saying "everything happens
for a reason". Yes, there is a reason for everything but sometimes
the reason and the outcome is not good and that eats away at my mind.
There is nothing wrong with trying to make everything right. Nobody
should accept mediocre conditions of any kind. It doesn't matter if
it's emotional, spiritual, or economical. We should all strive for
some level of excellence in our endeavors and a level of good in our
actions. Here's where the problem comes in for people like myself.
There are too many people that lack the vision and understanding to
give a damn.

Perhaps many are too busy convincing themselves to be happy with misery
and can't pay attention. Some will never recognize or understand the level of synergy you are trying to reach in your life. There is a thin line between self esteem and self loathing. You can't control the outcome of every decision and situation, but the people around you can make it all better or worse than you view it to be. If you are not successful at getting to the level you want, the people around you may be the reason you either find some peace of mind, or go totally insane.

Everybody needs to be satisfied with something.



Happy Birthday Walter!!

Wednesday, March 2, 2005

Message to the G-Unit and all the Beefers

You guys are really depressing me. You are all making more money than most young brothers can ever imagine for doing something that a few DJ's started in the parties just for fun. There is nothing in the story of your altercation that warrants anybody getting shot, beat up, or anything else. Maybe if you guys actually had true lyrical talent instead of relying on a played out, modern day minstrel show, thug image that the mainstream record companies hold your ass over the fire to carry on, you might not feel the need to be so ignorant to maintain your street credibility for people who have never seen the streets. Every one knows that this is all going to end with some young brother getting killed for absolutely no reason. Rappers are becoming perfect examples for white supremacist and radical right wing conservative activists to show the people that follow them that lack of money or education is not the reason for our savagery and violence. "50 Cent just made a few million dollars last year and he still wants to kill everybody. If we send them to college and give them some money, their asses will still be just as ignorant and hateful to one another. It's in their nature." Don't think its not being said somewhere behind closed doors. It's said everyday subliminally in the mainstream media. It seems like ages ago that I used to wear my backpack full of tapes, batteries and headphones pumping Pharcyde, Outkast, Tribe called Quest, and Redman on the bus everyday. I still pump the underground funk out of my trunk at 30 years old. I just don't always feel too good about it. We have gone from talking about who's better lyrically between Rakim and KRS One, to speaking about 50 Cent attacking everybody on his CD and who will Suge Knight set up once his probation is over. If I hadn't spent the last 20 years of my life nodding my head and feeding off the energy of this culture, I would write the entire genre off and listen to R&B. At least old school R&B doesn't make me feel immature and hopeless. In the spirit of Freaky Tah, Big L, Tupac, Biggie and the great Jam Master Jay........STOP THE BULLSHIT!

Gone off That Water

The title of this post is very fitting because I need to vent about some brothers that are obviously drunk or high on something. I am going to take them one at a time.

Baron Davis
You were making 84 million dollars in a city full of black people. You were on the side of the arena, commercials, and city buses. What in the hell mad it feel like a prison. I would write that I wish you woke up in the morning with your back locked up and you couldn't stand straight anymore but that's too mean.

Bill Cosby and John Cheney
I'm putting you two together because I know you are good friends. What are you guys doing in your spare time that makes you crazy? Bill is drugging young women and John Cheney is sending guys into basketball games to act like Suge Knight at a Snoop Dogg concert. I think both of you should retire and work behind the scenes. Every year your reputation gets tarnished more and more.

The Entire G-Unit
You guys get your own headline.

Kobe Kobe Kobe.....
Between the ring you bought your wife, the attorney's fees and the settlement, you have spent about 15 million dollars for about 5 minutes of uncomfortable sex. I know you will never think about this because of the size of your ego, but you have to be one of the most stupid, careless and foolish men I have ever seen. Do you realize how many young kids in the neighborhood you could have helped with 15 million dollars? Do you also realize that if you were just some brother passing through Colorado and were accused of that offense you would have been held without bail? You would probably be sitting somewhere in maximum security as we speak. The worst part is that most likely you haven't noticed any of those things and could care less.