It Is So Cold in Texas

That I managed to make a Snowbaby.

Speaking of Winter

Loll Jones!!!
Will she win a medal?
Probably not (for that I gotta' root for Shani Davis in Long Track Speedskaiting)
but she sure does look nice in her racing suit.

Seek Out Your Own Salvation

What's the big deal about a man expressing his religious views... In a Church Service...?

FREE Nelson MANdela

"Faith"

Someone seems to think that "faith" is a four-letter word.
It seems that every example I post is dismissed as being something other than this 'f-word'.

While The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey is a bit too new to have the appropriate clips on YouTube - the referenced scene can easily be found.

There is a scene in the movie wherein the protagonists must fight their way through an almost hell-like environment while being pursued by greater numbers.
The heroes run, fight, fall and eventually escape in the nick of time.
The heroes kept moving forward even though there was no visible expectation for their success.

If this scene were used as a metaphor for 'faith' - would these be considered to be exhibiting the dreaded  'f'-word'?

King of Clubs

The thing about owning a nightclub is that everyone assumes that one always knows what's up.
Because we deal with self-important, drunk people - we always end up knowing what's up.
People love to talk about themselves - whether it's good or bad.

A well-funded rival club owner came in recently (at the behest of his new white-knight partner) in an attempt to imitate my practice of supporting other clubs and businesses.
Apparently, while hosting a benefit - we gave away more money in one night than their club made in a month.

Most clubs owners open nightclubs as a vanity project, as means to make themselves important in one way or another. Many sleep with their customers and/or employees. Many get drunk and party with their guests. Most of these lose money.
The thing that many club owners fail to understand is that the guest is important - we are not.

My club caters to a thirty-and-over crowd. Most of my patrons are fairly well established. (Although we do get our share of the ratchet among the ratchet.)
The club seems to be the place where other business owners, politicians and those with titles come to let loose. I see all the trysts, I hear all the back door deals and I seem to get the real scoop on subjects before they hit the news.
I serve my guests.

Yet I understand that what I hear I cannot repeat and what I see I cannot mention.
Sometimes I feel more the Merovingian from the Matrix movies than I do a regular old bartender.
It seems that every week I am asked to pose for the local newspapers or magazines, do a photo-op with someone running for office or getting shouts-out from radio personalities.
The attention others seem to be seeking seems to be that which only causes trouble in my life.

We have been doing quite well...
In fact, we have been doing so well that other clubs have; called the Fire Marshall, sent in hired goons to start fights, called the Health Department (even though we don't even sell food.) and any number of things in an effort to keep our business from growing.

We have done so well that other club owners call me on my off nights to bring an entourage in to their clubs in an effort to grow their business.
I show up but I don't take the free entry, free drinks or the dinners being sent over.
I pay for my guests to get into the clubs, buy my guests' drinks, and pay for any food ordered.
But while patrons seem to admire that fact that I am spending money at other clubs - other clubs owners grow to resent the act.

It's odd - by making myself the least and running from status - I seem to be gaining more and more status.
A recent newspaper article quoted me referring to myself as being the 'janitor' of the club. This reference brought in more praise from customers than anything else I spoke of.
Many of my nights are now sponsored by others wishing to be affiliated with us.
(It's odd... People now pay me money so that they can come into the club to spend money?)
By thinking of others and putting them first - I seem to draw more people to me who are willing to do things the way I want them to be done.
I don't accept favors for myself - I use them to help others. (Which in turn creates even more people who feel as though they owe me a favor.)

I still hate running nightclubs - I just seem to be good at it.

Da' Souf...?



As progressive as much of Texas pretends to be...

It seems that some things in an (almost) antebellum state never change.

When our local news reports started reporting that a Black man was missing in an East-Texas town...

No one wanted to even imagine that the disappearance could have been racially motivated.

 

But since the discovery of a man's body (believed to be that of Mr Wright), some here have begun to question how a physically fit man could just disappear while walking home. Reports have come out that stated that Mr Wright used Bath-Salts, has been connected with and charged with bank related crimes, and photographs began to circulate with Mr Wright and an anonymous white woman.
In much of Da' Souf... Which would be more damning?

Code Red

I didn't want to say anything until I learned more about the Jonathan Martin-Richie Incognito situation.
At first, many in the media were quick to jump on the story of a locker room/lunch room dust up and label the situation as 'bullying' with racist undertones.
Mainstream media, Black media and even foreign media scooped up the story and quickly assigned 'bully' and 'victim' labels to the actors.

But something about the story never seemed quite right...
How could a six-five, three hundred plus pounds man be the victim of a bully?
Don't bullies usually prey upon the weak and easily intimidated?
Aren't football players supposed to be filled with testosterone and bravado?

Maybe football isn't the sport it used to be.
Back in the day, the goal of many in the sport was to punish and abuse ones opponent.
Flags that are thrown today would have gotten a sideline pat on the head a generation ago.
I have little to no idea what happened along the way...

The thing I hate about a lot of children's sports today is that no one loses.
Every kid is taught to think of himself as a winner just for making the team.
Children receive trophies at the end of the season just for making the team.
Excellence is no longer required.

The situation may be even worse for today's Black kids - more than seventy percent of Black households are run by single mothers.
Many Black boys never go through any of the old rites of passage.
Many of today's young Black boys never have the opportunity to earn the respect of their fathers.
Many of today's Black boys never learn to struggle and/or overcome obstacles.
Many of today's Black boys will still be trying to prove their manhood well into adulthood.

"Ungawa, Black Power... Yo' mama needs a shower... I said it, I meant it - I'm here to represent it...", "Yo' mama is a; knock-kneed, bald-headed, cock-eyed, son of a bitch...."

"Hey, hey,... Get outa' my way,..." and the rest of the schoolyard pre-fight chants from my days in the hood are no longer acceptable.

Wearing two pairs of underwear, shorts and an extra pair of pants for our Friday morning paddlings are no longer necessary.

Vaseline slathered on ones face is a practice today's kids would be confused by.

 

Sure we had bullies.

In the fourth grade I fought one (a sixth grader) every day for a week until he grew tired of fighting.

We knew which streets to cross, which houses to avoid and when to run when the 'Big Kids" were on their rampages.

We learned that the only way to get the better of a bully was to fight back.

 

Earlier I posited that sports were inherently gay.

No, not in the sexual sense - more in the prison/domination sense.

I had so many 'bitches' back in high school that one would have thought me a pimp.

No, not 'bitches' as in 'ho's' - but bitches as in close friends and team mates with whom one could joke around with, tease and/or embarrass.

"Bitch" was used as a term of disrespect and endearment.in almost any competitive environment.

IMOHO - Martin was soft and in need of a Code Red.
Was Incognito the man to do it? I don't know - I was never in that locker room and I don't know their relationship nor the dynamics.
But any grown-ass man who accuses another grown-ass man of 'Bullying' in any sport as aggressive as football (used to be) is too soft for the game and a detriment to the team.

Class Warfare

Do I believe in the current popular complaint from those who 'have not' - that of an ongoing class warfare being directed by 'The Elites'?
Sure I do - it's supposed to be that way.
No, not in the Atlas Shrugged sense, but I do not believe that everyone should be equal.
I believe in equal opportunity yet I do not believe that everyone will be nor should be equal.

If one desires to reside in the comforts of the Consumer Classes, then he cannot complain about his lot in life.
If ones goal in life is to have the newest and biggest of everything, then he will make himself a slave to his debt.
If his life has become mundane, banal and meaningless, then that choice was his own.
If one pursues the best uses of his talent, if one makes the effort, takes the risks and he puts his money (talent, status, gifts, blessings, whatever...) where his mouth is, then he deserves his good fortune and he owes it to himself to accept such blessings with thanksgiving and humility.

In all honesty... I'm not ballin'. I'm just doing a'ight.
I'm blessed to be a blessing to others.
Simple people will never understand why I give so much away.
They will never understand that money is not my motivation.
Sure, my recent benefit at the club and subsequent donation buys me a seat at the charity's Christmas Gala - but that is not why I host so many fundraisers.
My goal is not to become a highly honored member of the Consumer Classes.
My goal is to become and remain a member of the Creator Class.