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.


Top Ten Songs Hip Hop

Last week, I gave you my top ten hip hop albums of all time. I have been looking at that list and I really want to change some of it but I will leave it alone. Now it's time for my top ten songs. These are the 10 songs that I will always listen to. Once again, they are in no particular order after number 1. I always read top ten list and things on the internet but never tried any until these two I have written. These things are kind of difficult to do. As soon as you think of one song, five more pop into your head. I have been working on this one since last week. I really should have done a top 50 list. I'm finally comfortable enough with it to post it. So here it is!

1. Boogie Down Productions - My Philosophy: This song is the greatest rap song ever and I don't want to debate this with anybody

2. Eric B. and Rakim - Microphone Fiend: "I was a fiend before I became a teen"

3. Eric B. and Rakim - Check out my Melody: "I take seven MC's and put em in a line / Then add seven more brothers who think they can rhyme / It will take seven more before I go for mine/ Now that's 21 mc's ate up at the same time"

4. Lords of the Underground - Cheif Rocka: What the hell ever happened to these cats?

5. Whodini - Five Minutes of Funk: I've been knowing the words to this song since I was in the 5th grade........damn I am getting old!

6. Run DMC - RockBox: R.I.P. Jam Master Jay......damn black on black crime.

7. Tupac - White Man's World : This was his best song ever. Serious, thought provoking lyrics that expressed what every young black man thinks about. His entire song catalog should have been like this. This man died too soon.........did I mention I hate black on black crime?

8. Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks on Me : Their best song ever and the most addictive track ever produced.

9. Public Enemy - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos: This is the song I sing at my desk when I am bored at work. They should play this song outside of arm forces recruiting offices.

10. Scarface - Mr. Scarface: It's sad to say but this song is a perfect reflection of one of the worst epidemics in the history of the black community (crack). That is the truth. It's a vivid depiction of that era and everybod that I know from the ages of 25-35 knows the words......except for my sisters......lol.

Since I am on a roll with my lists, I think the next one will be the top 10 MC's of all time.....