Old School Friday: Philly Soul

By the decades.

Barbara Mason - Yes, I'm Ready 1965


The Soul Survivors - Expressway To Your Heart 1967


The Intruders- I'll always love my mama


Teddy Pendergrass- My Latest My Greatest Inspiration 1981

Wordless Wednesday: Hip-Hop

Joke for the day: Sunday thought.

This one is from my home girl Bria

A man who has lived a good life arrives at the Pearly Gates and St.
Peter greets him and asks him if he would like a tour of heaven.

The guy says sure and they go into heaven.

First he takes the man to the part of heaven where all the Jews are and
they see all of the jews doing the things that they love to do.

Then just across the way they go to see where all of the Muslims are
and they are praying and reading the Koran.

Then Peter takes him a long way away from the Jews and the Muslims to
the Christian part of heaven.

The man asks Peter why the Christians are
so far away and Peter says "shhh they think they are the only ones here".

Bady I am sorry but it is over between us.

I have refrain from blogging about politics for several reasons one every one else was doing a great job and basically saying what I would.

Two I always felt that this primary was for Obama to lose and my man was running the show like MJ in the 4th quarter he couldn't miss.

And third I really had nothing against Hillary, I liked her, not just because she is Bill's wife but because some of her views were in line with my own.

That goes back when she was the 1st lady and she tried to get health care reform on the table.

If Obama wasn't running she had my vote on lock.

But as the race grew near and end the desperation her camp has shown has by not throwing in the towel, claiming sexism, the vague racial baiting that goes on, all of it has left me trying to turn a blind eye to a woman that I like to call the original Pit bull in a Skirt.

But this BS right here of waiting around for some one to put a bullet in Obama?

That's to much for me, the pit bull has officially bit the hand that has fed her, it's time to be put down old yella style.

My quiet dream of an Obama Clinton ticket to give the Republicans a living hell for 16 years are dashed.

Why couldn't you be like your husband slick Willie?

He would of knew better than that, where was your team to pull you to the side and say "hey chill this is what you need to do"?

No baby you have let ambition take control of you and now your true colors are showing.

I am sorry baby but it's over now, you are not the woman I thought you would be.

Giving Back: Wyclef Jean on CNN helping Haiti!

Not enough is said when entertainers do right by the people I guess because it rarely reported. But i think it is just as important for the people to see this side of them as much as they see the music videos and Sportscenter highlights.



BTW

Big up to World Star Hip Hop I ve been feeding off them a min.

What I am Rockin: Aceyalone (Feat. Ahmad & Pep Love) - Give It Here

Yo this joint is hot I like the word play displayed the first verse was the tightest. It has an old school feel to it.

Aceyalone (Feat. Ahmad & Pep Love) - Give It Here

Violence against women: Mildred Beaubrun

Symphony, from Essential Presence wrote about a viscous crime committed against a young girl, Mildred Beaubrun, for having the good taste of refusing to give her number out to some man. For her trouble the young lady was shot:

http://essentialpresence.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-bother-with-calling-me-bitch-when.html

I remember growing up chasing girls with zero game in my pocket you did and say what you could to get attention, any attention, and if you were with your boys the ante was way high.

A rejection in front of your crew especially a bad one can hit you in that spot called pride and for the idiot who can not handle it, the response is always something that you know you can hold over a woman's head to attemp to show power, the threat of violence if not the act of it.

FU, B&%* with a menacing look daring her to say something in response, not even knowing were that would lead those can be the precurser to something more serious, like flying bottles and rocks.

When I was a kid though there was checks and balances for that type of behavior, there were brothers, cousins, uncles, father, friends that would come looking for you if you started talking sideways out of your mouth to to one of their own.

Not any more, a combination of guns to even the score and the idea that women are no longer worth it, has put a tarnish on the knight in shinning armor.

The rule of today is Bros above Hos, or Sistas above Niggas.

Cat calling, pulling numbers were all part of growing up back in my day, boys figured out what worked and what did not and girls learned to turn their nose up and be selective.

Now a days these kids out here, are born into violence, it's all around them and they are expected to partake in it or become victim of it, and some where along the line women have become fair game.

I couldn't even tell you why there is this loss of respect.

I could sit here and say it's the teaching to boys that "you don't love anything that can be taken away from you"as a self protection mechanism that still pops in me at my age is what did it, or that it is a class thing, or products of a broken home, a relic of slavery, or that it's women who brought it about themselves.

But those are half truths, and does little to explain the out right lack of respect for life that is a virus in the black community.

But can tell you is that I am not looking forward to is walking down the street and having a black woman clutch at her purse and cross the street when she sees me coming, or locking the car doors, follow me around the store, calling the cops because I am in her neighborhood.

And you can call it a day if my flirting with a pretty woman is more likely to strike fear in her heart than put a smile on her face.

And that is exactly were we are heading.

What women with half a brain in her head would not get nervous, after reading something like that, when approached by a black man.

She would have had to been surrounded by positive black men all her life to recognize one low life for who he is and not condemn us all.

But to hear every one else say it positive and black men are quickly becoming an oxymoron.

What happened to Mildred Beaubrun, should open flood gates in communities all over the country, to say that is enough it's time we all had a talk.

But I doubt that, she'll just be chalked up as one of many victims of violence no big deal.

And that is sad.

Old School Friday: Guitar Solo

I already know I am the only one with this one I am giving my self bonus points.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Up Above My Head


Classic

BB King : How Blue Can You Get

Joke for the day: Harry

( I got a hang over that wont quit messing around at Chit Chat so this one is late)


A first-grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, was having trouble with one of her students. The teacher asked, 'Harry, what's your problem?'

Harry answered, 'I'm too smart for the 1st grade. My sister is in the 3rd grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should?be in the 3rd grade too!'

Ms. Brooks had had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.

While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal told Ms. Brooks he would give the boy a test. If he failed to answer any of his questions he was to go back to the 1st grade and behave. She agreed.
Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test.

Principal: 'What is 3 x 3?'

Harry: '9.'

Principal: 'What is 6 x 6?'

Harry: '36.'

And so it went with every question the principal thought a 3rd grader should know.
The principal looks at Ms. Brooks and tells her, 'I think Harry can go to the 3rd grade.'

Ms. Brooks says to the principal, 'Let me ask him some questions.'

The principal and Harry both agreed.

Ms. Brooks asks, 'What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?'

Harry, after a moment: 'Legs.'

Ms Brooks: 'What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?'

The principal wondered why would she ask such a question!

Harry replied: 'Pockets.'

Ms. Brooks: 'What does a dog do that a man steps into?'

Harry: 'Pants.'

Ms. Brooks: What starts with a C, ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains thin, whitish liquid?'

Harry: 'Coconut.'

The principal sat forward with his mouth hanging open.
Ms. Brooks: 'What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft and sticky?'
The principal's eyes opened really wide and before he could stop the answer, Harry replied, 'Bubble gum.'

Ms. Brooks: 'What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs?'

Harry: 'Shake hands.'

The principal was trembling.

Ms. Brooks: 'What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'K' that means a lot of heat and excitement?'

Harry: 'Firetruck.'

The principal breathed a sigh of relief and told the teacher, 'Put Harry in the fifth-grade, I got the last seven questions wrong.....'







...remember, friends are family by choice.

Wordless Wednsday: The Thin Line

True Story 6: You Suck, Applebee!!

I always like to hit the streets to eat and drink with some friends to unwind.

There are certain spots I like and go regularly to for different reasons, happy hour, women, good food, good drinks, atmoshpere or just general uniqueness.

And there are spots that every one else loves but I hate, such as Applebee's or more specific "Club Applebee's" on Memorial Dr. in Decatur.

I hate that Mutha#@$.

I hate the fact that the place is packed all the damn time at all ours.

I hate that they are always understaff making you feel like when you order the New York strip they actually went to New York to get it.

I hate that they can F up a simple drink like an Apple Martini.

I hate that the waitress, wjo has been chilling, will look right at you when you are signally her for something an it is that exact moment that she has to take care of her other customer.

I hate that I have gone there three times expecting a different.

I hate you "Club Applebee's" on Memorial Dr.

You Suck!!

True Story 5: Getting some was more fun as a kid.

Is it me or was trying to get sex more fun as a kid?

I am not talking about the act of sex

but trying to get it.


To me as a kid growing up broke, with zero game the only thing you got going for yourself is that your a jock which dint mean jack because your at an all boys school, getting some is the stuff of legends.

A cross between Indiana Jones, Shaft, and Conan the Barbarian.

Now a days grown folks know that it's on the moment you look at each other, it becomes a matter of negotiating the proper price that is acceptable to both parties if you want to be blunt about it.

Dinner and movie, relationship, pay some bills, sweet lies what ever the price is, what ever makes you sleep guilt free at night.

As a kid though trying to figure out the opposite sex and trying to figure out what it takes to get in their pants is like trying to figure out the meaning of life.

The only thing your sure about is that the answer is some where between her legs.


And of course the mystery wouldn't leave you the hell alone, not with hormones running through your veins like hot lava, everything you looked at reminded you of sex......


The problem is that you have no clue how to get it, all you know is you want it.

As a kid you have no game, you are biting some one else's, and depending were you are getting it from it could be good or a disaster.

I can not speak for woman but as a man I now know that boys should never be left unchecked when it comes to the opposite sex.

Unsupervised boys and sex can go from simple hi jinx like an American Pie movie or something worse like Genralow Wilson, or even monstrous like this http://dunbarvillage.blogspot.com/.

Uneducated teenage sex can lead to STDs or unwanted pregnancy, rape and even murder.

That is why I always believed that boys should be kept on a short leash.

But this post isn't really about that it's about what I did putting my neck on the line to get some.

My mom was working third shift one weekend while I had a friend from school named Juan sleeping over.

Juan was a smooth player from Spain whose mother worked at the United Nations, we were as thick as thieves back than, and hanging out was a daily thing.

Anyway Juan knows this Italian girl in Astoria who has her friend sleeping over with her at her house.

Juan gets the idea we should pay them a visit at 12 AM in the morning, now at the time I was living at 56Th and Lexington Ave. So to get to her place we had to catch the LIR from Penn Station on 34 st, if I am not mistaken might of been Grand Central it's been a while, on the other side of Manhattan in 30 min to catch the last train out.

Now mind you were not thinking on how to get back, were thinking about getting some ass.

So after getting my younger brother to cover for us we sprint in the middle of the night across Manhattan to Penn Station.

Now this is back in the day were NYPD only needed one bullet to kill a black man, back than they were much better shooters.

So here I am a kid, black, chasing behind Juan a Spaniard, which means white, down the streets of New York, hiding around the corners every time we see the cops.

I couldn't even come up with a story good enough if we got caught.

We make the train in 30 min and arrive in Astoria sweating and stank.....



not even thinking about that and how it might offend the ladies, if we walked right out of the sewer we would still expect to get some loving.

Now it's about 1 AM when we get there, and were trekking through the neighborhood on some ninja style.



Reason being this also happens to be a few years after Yusef Hawkins was gunned down by the Italians in Brooklyn...


when he went over to look at a car he wanted to buy, as well as the racial attacks at Howard Beach.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusef_Hawkins

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1305764.html

Back when I was growing up in New York the "mosaic" city was always on the verge of a race war/riot......


Italians vs Irish vs Blacks vs Jews, vs Muslims vs Russians vs West Indians vs Arabs vs Latinos.

As a kid in high school you were guaranteed to participate in at least one semi racial riot/fight a year.

The crazy thing is that you might have real good friends of another race who you gave the "pass" to, but you damn sure knew were the lines were drawn.

And those line were usually drawn around neighborhoods.

Now Juan maybe as white as snow but those Italians wouldn't give a rats ass about that especially if he was hanging with me.

They would of called him a Puerto Rican to make it official and commenced to try to beat some ass.

So every time we see an Iroc driving down the street were jumping behind garbage cans and mess., we finally get there at her place which was one of those row houses

not really a brownstone.

The girl's room is on the first floor, so when we get there he taps on the window to let her know were here,(this is the age before every one owned a cell phone).

So she opens up and we sneak in through the window, now she was a cute little blonde, and her friend was a very cute Jamaican girl, not that it mattered because me and Juan had already discussed tag team action the only thing we knew is what we were going to do once we got a hold of those cats.......


well at least that's what we were thinking.

Her parents were sleeping upstairs so we kept it real quite, so after some quite conversation the party started, I am working on the Italian girl Juan is working the Jamaican, he has her bra off on the floor on one side of the bed, and and I have have the panties off on the other side, (I was having trouble with the bra).

I was butt naked trying to finish off that bra when we heard the front door, this girl starts to freak out and says it's her brother and for us to hide.

Now the first thought would of been the closet but it was dark and two the bed was right there, so I dive my skinny, (at the time), ass under the bed.

Well I guess Juan got the same idea because he is right next to me, shoulder to shoulder butt nakedness to butt nakedness.

So here we are a black and white kid butt naked under bed like were on a damn slave ship, with erections like rockets ready to launch that wont go limp to save our lives, chalk it up to the youth.

In the process of diving under the bed I scuffed the hell out of my penis, but all I could think about was "please don't let me get my ass whooped butt naked, maybe he will let us put our clothes on first?"

So big bro apparently had some friends sneak over to go use the family hot tub for there own debauchery, but he need something out of his sisters room for it, I have no idea what it was and what it was doing in her room.

All we here is a little bit of conversation about what is needed but she didn't know what it was so he walks into the damn room!

I know he went to the closet to get what ever it was with me Juan under the bed sweating thanking God we chose to hide under the bed, all the while not trying not to breath and give ourselves up.

Dude finally heads for the door but before he walks out he says you can tell those guys they can come out from under the bed, it's cool.

I damn near stroked out.

Like all young idiot with erections thus sucking more blood from the brain, we did not bother to cover our tracks, in this case our clothes that was still all over the damn floor.

My man walked out with out bothering to take a look at us but I could here him chuckling.

So Juan and I come slinking out from under the bed and like all good boys try to get back to action, but the girls was not having it. we were asked to leave (through the f#$@ing window) and told next time, which meant never.

We hike it back to the train station and had to wait on the platform for 2 hours for the trains to start running again, but the only thing I can think of is if i needed to get a tetanus shot for my penis, my mom was one of those who scared you with every disease she came across so of course I panic if some one sneezes across the damn street.

But if you asked me if I would do it again, hell yeah but this time I would get it!!

You see half of whats satisfying of sex for a man is the pursuit, the hunt, it feeds that primal part of the brain, hell sex really is just cream on the cake.

The ability to play like King Kong and beat your chest, (which I have done in the bedroom), after a conquest is the real goal.

That's the reason men fall asleep after sex, a hunt well done, if your a woman and the man you just had sex with wants to talk after words well maybe you need to think about somethings.

The point is that there is more to sex than sex.

I think.

At this point the rhum has taken over so I am mentally on E.

Peace.

To make you feel good about yourself.

Now after the unnecessary beating Lebron James took for telling mom to do something with her butt, here is a nice story for the those who like to over react.

Mr. Wade over here decides to shame black men all over the country by buy his mom a church.

Read it here.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/religion/957487,CST-NWS-wade19.article

Damn why could,nt this dude be a Knick?

Joke for the day: THE WHY'S OF MEN

Because I believe in equal opportunity laughter.

THE WHY'S OF MEN

1. WHY DO MEN BECOME SMARTER DURING SEX?
(because they are plugged into a genius)

2. WHY DON'T WOMEN BLINK DURING SEX?
(they don't have enough time)

3. WHY DOES IT TAKE 1 MILLION SPERM TO FERTILIZE ONE EGG? (they don't stop to ask directions)

4. WHY DO MEN SNORE WHEN THEY LIE ON THEIR BACKS?
(because their balls fall over their butt-hole and they vapor lock)


5. WHY WERE MEN GIVEN LARGER BRAINS THAN DOGS?
(so they won't hump women's legs at cocktails parties)

6. WHY DID GOD MAKE MEN BEFORE WOMEN?
(you need a rough draft before you make a final copy)

7. HOW MANY MEN DOES IT TAKE TO PUT A TOILET SEAT DOWN? (don't know.....it never happened)


8. WHY DID GOD PUT MEN ON EARTH?
(because a vibrator can't mow the lawn)

Beautiful vs Sexy .

Beauty VS Sexy.

VS




Sitting around the bullpen (that would be my residence and hang out to other bachelors) a heated discussion broke out about who was more "fine", (we had already discussed the high brow stuff like politics, religion, race, and sex..ism), between to singers that I don't even remember there names now. The conversation shifted to what you would rather have a beautiful women or a sexy women and if there is a difference in the first place?



VS



Yes there is and I would rather have sexy was my argument.

The way I see it beauty is in the eye of the beholder for real.

If you live in a Euro-centric society like Europe or here in the States or in an Afro-centric society like say Africa, your views maybe corrupted on the matter of beauty.

And if you are a woman of color than the more qualities of the dominant society you have the more you qualify as beautiful.

There is no need to go into details and the science and race of it that has been done to death, instead lets focus on what beauty is, to break it down by definition we get;

1. pleasing to senses: very pleasing and impressive to look at, listen to, touch, smell, or taste

2. excellent: very good or enjoyable


Whats missing in here is that, in the case of women beauty, it is strictly visual eliminating taste and smell, unless you are of course a super freak such as my self than well yeah add those on too, but I digress.

Now since were talking visual, only one of the senses, and since unlike say an inanimate object, age plays a big factor, as the old saying goes beauty fades over time.

There is no appreciations of a woman who has aged poorly, only a "back in her day...".

And that is the problem with beauty, the way I see it a beautiful woman is coming up short to me in the long run.

If one is to make a long term commitment to a woman who is "just" beautiful, removing love, personality and the rest of that, than what you have is a one trick pony that needs to be put to pasture when it's all said and done.

Strictly physically speaking.

There is no longevity in it, and I know I am going to be big on geriatric sex when I get old.

Lets take a look at sexy highlighting key words;

1. arousing desire: arousing or intended to arouse sexual desire


2. aroused: sexually aroused


3. appealing: appealing because of being new, interesting, or trendy ( informal )

You see that right there, see were I am going?

That right there boys and girls has nothing to do with time but style.

You see sex is all tied into the deep part of the mind that is focused on complete gratification of desire.

And when your used to having that desire around and satisfied completely you know when it's missing.

And when it's missing all hell breaks loose.

It's the reason there is porn, Viagra, lube, french ticklers, vibrators, penile implants, breast implants, it's all about sex which doesn't have a damn thing to do with beauty.

That's why ugly people still have sex, there is an itch that needs scratching.

The idea is the woman who can get it up at will and put it down at will is queen of all she see, it's a wrap.

Hand over the pay check, the car keys, pay the bills, lose the friends, it over.

The trick now is deciding what is sexy?

It can be one thing or a combination of things.

For example.

Well developed back side?


Hair?


The Way they carry them selves?


Eyes?


Humor?


Bedroom Warfare?


Voice


Attitude?


Lips?


Toes?


Breasts?


The way they dress?


Intellect?


If your a Renaissance man such as my self than it's all of the above.

And the wonderful thing about these attributes are that they do not fade over time, well maybe the breasts.

The point is if you a woman have a handle on your sexy at 18 you'll have it 68, which mean a lot more to me than beauty.

If we get old together and I still want to jump your dusty bones at 68 well mama you are a champ.

Don't get me wrong I like to look at beauty to, but look is it, Halle may look beautiful but I know a lazy women in bed when I see one "make me feel good" my ass.

So I'll take sexy any day of the week.

And for those who suspect that I wrote this post just to have an excuse to throw half naked women on here yes you are right, you are damn right.

A note on mental health in the black community.

By now I am sure people have seen this young lady.


I happen to know her professionally.

The place I used to work at treated people like her and substance abusers who did not have health coverage.

When I saw the vid I knew right off the bat who she was and that she was off her medication.

Unlike the rest of the people who saw this and thought this was the funniest thing I was not amused.

I know what she is really like when she is on her meds and it is nothing like this, she is a very sweet girl.

I also did not react like many others who felt that the young girl should be buried under the jail, that wouldn't solve anything.

She will be back out into the community with none of her issues addressed to any one's satisfaction and sooner or later patient like these are going to place some one at physical harm, or worst become the victim or perpetrator of sexual abuse, spread of STI's such as HIV, or a fatality.

In the black community the response can be to brush it off, pass the individual off to the hospital, or ignore the problem.

The lack of community knowledge really can be the most dangerous thing about this, notice how one of the young men wanted to get up and hit her and had to be restrained.

The place I worked at is considered one of the bottom shelf of treatment for the those citizens with mental or substance abuse issues.

Its really nothing more than an away station, they come in long enough to get back on their medication or off the drugs and shipped out with the hope that they will do what they need to to to stay right, which usually does not happen, "frequent fliers" make up 95% of the patients.

The flaws in the system:

1- Medication side effects can be so severe that some pt would rather not take them, as opposed to being constantly constipated, diarrhea, extreme weight gain, altered level of conciseness, tachycardia, bradycardia, skin rashes loss of motor function and the list goes on.

2- The meds are expensive and despite programs to cover some of the cost the cost not covered can deter purchase.

3- Pts like these need constant supervision, and that is a lot of stress on family members who are than shackled to the client and have there own lives altered.

4- Abuse of the system runs rampant, there are half way houses that will take the funding provide for the client and not even provide half the services that they promised, there are relatives who keep these client just to get a check to supplement their own income and neglect the pt, there are substance abusers who know the "magic words" to say in order to get into the facility knowing they have no intention to kick the habit, but just want a place to stay.

5- The one facility I worked at kept every one on the same floor, men, women, mental health, and substance abuser all on the same floor, were every one is stepping on each others toes and no one has the tolerance for the other or maybe to much tolerance bordering on predatory.

6- Under staffed

7- The staff that you do have is under paid over worked under appreciated, leading to a high turn over and general malcontent.

8- Underfunded, the state government under Sonny Purdue has repeatedly kept the purse strings closed.

And yet despite it all the facility is there to try to keep incidents like these under check, I can not imagine what the street of Greater Atlanta would be like with out it.

Every walk of life, religion, race shows up there, right out prison or Buckhead, white, black, Asian, American, African you name it they have been in there.

I hope this episode by this young lady will lead her to get some of the help that she needs and more importantly have the power to be open up a dialog on the subject.

Quote for the day: May 14

It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the same for anything that is called a Way. Therefore, it is inconsistent to hear something of the Way of Confucius or the Way of the Buddha, and say that this is the Way of the Samurai. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all Ways and be more and more in accord with his own.

-"Hagakure" Yamamoto Tsunetomo-

I first heard this in a movie called Ghost Dog starring Forest Whitaker, the saying always stuck with me.

I have see this as saying some one who has the ability to accept other cultures, values religion and just general difference with out having to feel like they are threatening to their own beliefs.

This shows up in my own personal life, it's the reason I can have a drink with a gay friend and not be concerned about me being gay because I'm not,or have a conversation with a Muslim friend, attend the baptist church of another friend on Sunday and than a catholic sermon the next Sunday.

I can listen to the points of Pro Choicers and Pro Lifers and understand both points of view, listen to Southerner rap than play some New York rap right behind it.

Hell you have to have a strong belief system to navigate the blogosphere alone.

I have a cross section of characters as friends from different backgrounds that are cool with me but I know I cant put in the same room together.

The only constant in this mathematics seems to be me, hell I can have a beer and talk smack with a Klansman under the right circumstances.

Thinking this way has made my life richer for it.

School aint no joke!

This is just sick.


Now in reality this is not just Baltimore it's all over the place with these kids.

I have a friend who used to work as a security job at an elementary school in Atlanta and would come back with some horror stories, of fights attack on teachers and prostitution. He said the biggest problems were the adults who acted like the kids who did the crime were innocent victims of the overzealous schools.

How can you make a case for public education?

Hell home schooling or private school is a dream come true for a parent considering.

Ive been in both public and private schools and to tell you the truth the private school was really a reform school so there was not much difference between them and public schools but they damn sure wasn't wide open like this.



I hesitate to give the knee jerk reaction which is to bury them under the jail because I know that the community they are from has as much to blame in how these kids are than anything else.

But a solution is needed, I am all for separating the sex's by schools, uniforms and dividing classes by the caliber of students.

Joke for the Day: REASONS WHY I HAD A BENJAMIN TATTOOED ON MY....

Reasons why I had a Benjamin tattooed on my Penis:





1) I like to have cash on hand.

2) I love to watch my money grow.

3) If the wife wants to blow a 100 she does't have to go into town.

Separating the talent from the man.

A couple of characters have had their business dragged out into the press which had me thinking about the people I used to look up to as a kid.

Now as a kid and really even now I have always had a soft spot for the counter culture, rebels in politics (Che, Mao, Castro), non conformist artist (Marley, P.E., KRS), Social reformist (Garvey, Gandhi, Mandela), and general bad asses in sports (The Knicks of the 90's, Mets of the 80's).

It speaks to my love hate with the powers that be.

When you get older you values change and you start to question your role models character or choices they made.

And that can easily lead to questioning what they accomplished in the first place.

That's when you have to start separating the talent from they very human like man.

To keep this short I'll use sports as an example.

Sports, now that has always been apart of my life from the time I was a kid, did not matter if I was participating or just watching it was around.

I would go out the way to play despite being in a family that frowned on sports and instead pushed academics.

So I would hide the fact I played sports at all.

I forged my mom's signature on a permission slips to play football, than basketball and finally soccer and track starting in the 8Th grade through high school just so she would not try to say no.

Slipped in and out of the house to hide sport injuries from her, hitched rides to away games, paid for my own shoes and cleats on and on.

It was not hard as you think it is when you are the one of three sons of a single working mother who was putting herself through school.

Sports ruled my life and of course the stars of the game were my heroes.

They could do no wrong when I was a kid that's how much my "Fandome" ruled me.

Case in point the dude here........


Iron Mike was the man back in his day.

And I would was a loyal fan, till this day I'll argue with people who belittle his accomplishments now that he is on hard times.

But now as an adult I have to admit the faults in this man that my mind would omit as a kid.

Mike played on every negative stereotype of black men, over sexed, hyper masculine, criminal, you name it it was him.

Hell you can even insert the big penis myth with him too, after all his lawyers used it in his defense against rape charges explaining how the woman got the bruising.

He was Jack Johnson reborn, and he knew it.

That's why he played up to the stereotypes, and could you blame him for that?

If there going to look at you like an animal might as well charge them to look at your monkey ass.

But that doesn't excuse me for turning a blind eye to the street fights, the rape, the threats, the general roguish behavior all for the promise of watching him send some one off to la la land.



It's amazing how the mind can rationalize things, "they messed with him it' self defense', "what the hell was she doing in his room at that time of the hour?", "He is just selling the fight", and "If he stopped head butting him he would still have a damn ear, bet you next time he'll listen".

Just so I could see this....


We all do it when some one gets under skin the right way we swear we understand where they are coming from until the the moment when we grow up or that hero crosses the line.

Than we cant defend them any more I don't even know when that moment came with Tyson but I do when it came with this crook right here.....



Now if you haven't already heard Karl "lover boy" Malone here has a couple of kids out of wedlock not unheard of for this planet but the latest child now a grown man is making a name for himself on the football field so naturally a little digging is being done by the press and low and behold they "find out" that the young man's, Demetrius Bell, mother was 13 when she got pregnant by the mailman who was in college at the time making him 19.

And of course he wanted nothing to do with the kid and so on.

You can read the details here from Jemele Hill.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/080507

Now I am not bothered by the lousy dad of the year award people are trying to drop on him because well there are to many lousy dads and moms for that matter running around this planet that need to be fixed for me to be worried about the Mailman.

That horse has been beaten dead raised up again and beaten back under.

As you have guessed it is the fact that the girl was 13 at the time.

The old me would have jumped up and said she lied about her age, he was drunk, it was dark in the room and he thought she was some one else, whatever.

This me now says however, naw........


..you a stupid raping mutha@#!$.

But here is the point of me writing this, as much as I despise these dudes I can not deny there talent, Malone will go down as one of the best power forward in the game, Mike Tyson one of the most exciting heavy wts ever, Ike Turner music innovator, R. Kelly, Tupac, the list goes on of men that may or may not have their own suite in hades reserved for them.

You can not erase their accomplishments you got to accept it all flaws and all.

The worst thing you can do is ignore one for the other.

As a man I can separate the flaws from the man pick out what I like and still recognize that dude is a jerk.

And since I have no kids I do not have to explain why, which are the only people who are at risk of being mislead by who ever they decide to crown as a role model.

And believe me they have their own and 9 times out of 10 they are not on your list of approved people.

There the ones who need some talking to, as for me I just keep breaking them down and piecing them back together.

Thats all I got to say.