An Un-Funky Friday

I'm not a complete rube and actually enjoy peaceful and occasionally inspirational symphonic music. I like it because most works are performed by true musical artists, it is unfettered with vocals, and few opuses fit in the 3 minute radio format (most run 15 to 25 minutes). So this afternoon, I tuned my Sirius Satellite Radio to Channel 80 (Symphony Hall) and got a little work done!

I decided to add an extra note about the composer and/or score that I heard. What follows are the works that transpired during an un-Funky Friday in my home office:

1. Armas Jarnefelt - Berceuse

The Finnish-born composer enjoyed a career as a conductor and composer in Sweden, eventually taking Swedish citizenship. "Berceuse" is one of his better known works.

2. Anton Rubinstein - Don Quixote, Op. 87

The Russian pianist and composer founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1862). His compositions include chamber music, operas, and six symphonies; he was also a pianist and highly regarded as a rival to Franz Liszt and has been described by historians as one of the greatest virtuosos in history.


3. Robert Schumann - Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13

The Symphonic Etudes, opus 13 is a set of etudes for solo piano by Robert Schumann, begun in 1834 as a set of eighteen variations on a theme by the Baron von Fricken. In 1852, Schumann republished the set under the name Etudes en forme de variations, and made several revisions.


4. Carlos Chavez - Sonata for Four Horns

The composer was born near Mexico City, Mexico in 1899 and is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century. During the 1950's and 1960's he received a number of commissions for new works, including three symphonies: Symphony No. 4 (commissioned by the Louisville Symphony Orchestra), Symphony No. 5 (Sergei Koussevitsky Foundation), and Symphony No. 6 (New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts). He died in 1978.

5. Hector Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique. Op. 14

Many believe that the Symphonie fantastique is an autobiographical confession, a symphony to exorcise his then-unrequited love for the Irish Shakespearian actress Harriet Smithson, whom he would later marry.

6. Ernst Boehe - Odysseus' Voyages, Opus 6, No. 1

Taken from a review written by David Hurwitz for ClassicsToday.com: "Written in an idiom somewhere between Brahms and Strauss, Boehe for the most part sounds refreshingly free of the usual problems that beset conservative German, British, and American music from the turn of the last century: a fear of exploiting orchestral color to its fullest, a pedantic approach to form, and an emotionally inhibited expressive range."

7. Edward Elgar - Serenade for String Orchestra in E Minor, Op. 20

Elgar is a composer who is probably best known for the Pomp and Circumstance Marches (1901).

8. Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 9 in E Flat Major, Op. 70

The ninth symphony was intended to be a celebration to the Russian victory over the Nazi Germany in the World War II, which the composer once declared in 1943 that the symphony would be a large composition for orchestra, soloists and chorus which the context would be "about the greatness of the Russian people, about our Red Army liberating our native land from the enemy". The Symphony was first performed on 3 November 1945 by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.

9. Johannes Brahms - Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 120

Brahms wrote a number of major works for orchestra, including four symphonies, two piano concertos, a Violin Concerto, a Double Concerto for violin and cello, and a pair of orchestral overtures. Brahms idolized Beethoven: in his home, a marble bust of Beethoven looked down on the spot where he composed.

10. Franz Schubert - String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D.887

This is piece is used in Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" to accompany the death and discovery of the body of the character Dolores, played by Anjelica Huston.

Class of 2010 - I Must Be Getting Old!

BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST® FOR THE CLASS OF 2010

At the beginning of the fall semester since 1998, Beloit College in Wisconsin has released the Beloit College Mindset List. This list is the creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief, it looks at the cultural touchstones (icons and events) that have shaped the lives of today’s first-year students.

Members of the class of 2010, entering college this fall, were mostly born in 1988. Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin, Andy Gibb, and Secretariat died before these students were born. I was born in 1962, you can do the math.

1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
plez sez: I still remember the drill of hiding under my desk at school in the event that the Soviet Union "dropped the bomb" on us.

2. They have known only two presidents.
plez sez: I was born when Kennedy was in the White House and remember every one from "Tricky Dick" Nixon to W.

3. For most of their lives, major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt.
plez sez: I used to fly to college on Piedmont and Eastern Airlines.

4. Manuel Noriega has always been in jail in the U.S.
plez sez: He's still alive?

5. They have grown up getting lost in "big boxes."
plez sez: I remember when the small town I grew up in opened its first fast food restaurant: a Kentucy Fried Chicken that only had one kind of fried chicken.

6. There has always been only one Germany.
plez sez: The East Germans were as reviled as the Soviets.

7. They have never heard anyone actually "ring it up" on a cash register.
plez sez: As a teenager, I bagged groceries at the first store that had scanners to read the bar codes on packages and every package didn't even have them.

8. They are wireless, yet always connected.
plez sez: My mother still uses a rotary phone in her house.

9. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'.
plez sez: Ahhhh... the days of Watergate when every Republican was considered a crook.

10. Thanks to pervasive headphones in the back seat, parents have always been able to speak freely in the front.

11. A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake.

12.Smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines.
plez sez: Airline seats used to have ashtrays built into them.

13. Faux fur has always been a necessary element of style.
plez sez: Faux fur has always been tacky.

14. The Moral Majority has never needed an organization.

15. They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams.
plez sez: Or how about the Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Colts?

16. DNA fingerprinting has always been admissible evidence in court.

17. They grew up pushing their own miniature shopping carts in the supermarket.
plez sez: Paper or plastic?

18. They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.
plez sez: You could never read the fine print on faxes anyway.

19. "Google" has always been a verb.
plez sez: You can find ANYTHING on the Internet.

20. Text messaging is their email.
plez sez: In early systems, email was confined to the company that you worked for.

21. Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say.
plez sez: Fab and Rob should've kept their "Best New Artist" Grammy - so what, they couldn't sing. Don't forget my number.

22. Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America.
plez sez: "And that's the way it is..."

23. Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.
plez sez: Just think, someone used to have to go around a grocery store and put a small tag with the price on everything.

24. Madden has always been a game, not a Superbowl-winning coach.
plez sez: Go Raiders!

25. Phantom of the Opera has always been on Broadway.

26. "Boogers" candy has always been a favorite for grossing out parents.
plez sez: Never heard of 'em.

27. There has never been a "skyhook" in the NBA.
plez sez: There will ALWAYS be a "sky hook" in the NBA.

28. Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics.
plez sez: Press real hard when you write so your signature shows up in triplicate.

29. Computerized player pianos have always been tinkling in the lobby.

30. Non-denominational mega-churches have always been the fastest growing religious organizations in the U.S.
plez sez: I think it was Karl Marx who said, "Religion is the opiate of the masses".

31. They grew up in mini-vans.
plez sez: I hate mini-vans.

32. Reality shows have always been on television.
plez sez: What ever happened to classic westerns like "Rawhide", "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza"?

33. They have no idea why we needed to ask "...can we all get along?"
plez sez: We owe so much to Rodney King and the Los Angeles Police.

34. They have always known that "In the criminal justice system the people have been represented by two separate yet equally important groups."
plez sez: "Law and Order" is the best show on television.

35. Young women's fashions have never been concerned with where the waist is.
plez sez: HUH?

36. They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
plez sez: Thank God!

37. Brides have always worn white for a first, second, or third wedding.
plez sez: No comment.

38. Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.
plez sez: Back in the olden days (the early 80's), older, rich people where the only ones who could afford new technology.

39. "So" as in "Sooooo New York," has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.
plez sez: Whatever!

40. Affluent troubled teens in Southern California have always been the subjects of television series.
plez sez: Let's thank Aaron Spelling for another indelible cultural icon: "Beverly Hills 90210", which started in 1990.

41. They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.
plez sez: I remember very grainy black and white clips about what was going on in Vietnam during the nightly news, but to this day, I have no idea why we were over there fighting - similar to Iraq, except we now have CNN giving blow-by-blow details in high definition television.

42. Ken Burns has always been producing very long documentaries on PBS.

43. They are not aware that "flock of seagulls hair" has nothing to do with birds flying into it.

44. Retin-A has always made America look less wrinkled.
plez sez: Good thing I am aging gracefully.

45. Green tea has always been marketed for health purposes.
plez sez: Hey, Lipton's with a slice of lemon ain't half bad, either.

46. Public school officials have always had the right to censor school newspapers.

47. Small white holiday lights have always been in style.
plez sez: My parents' Christmas trees always had lights that were all of the colors of the rainbow, and each bulb was about 300 degrees. For some reason, the little candles we put in each window only had blue 300 degree lights.

48. Most of them never had the chance to eat bad airline food.
plez sez: Well, the airlines rarely feed you these days, now they don't even serve peanuts.

49. They have always been searching for "Waldo."
plez sez: Who's Waldo?

50. The really rich have regularly expressed exuberance with outlandish birthday parties.

51. Michael Moore has always been showing up uninvited.

52. They never played the game of state license plates in the car.
plez sez: I always found that game to be boring, because I grew up in New York with 3 older brothers and I always got stuck with states like Montana and Idaho!

53. They have always preferred going out in groups as opposed to dating.
plez sez: And people wonder why we have movies like "Brokeback Mountain" in wide distribution.

54. There have always been live organ donors.

55. They have always had access to their own credit cards.
plez sez: My 5 year old daughter keeps asking me for her own cell phone - what is this world coming to?

56. They have never put their money in a "Savings & Loan."
plez sez: My first bank account was in my town's Savings & Loan when I was 6 years old - $20 I got for my birthday.

57. Sara Lee has always made underwear.
plez sez: Does she still make coffee cake?

58. Bad behavior has always been getting captured on amateur videos.
plez sez: No pictures, please.

59. Disneyland has always been in Europe and Asia.
plez sez: When I grew up, Disney was in California.

60. They never saw Bernard Shaw on CNN.
plez sez: WOW! Bernie Shaw ushered in the cable revolution and round-the-clock news reporting.

61. Beach volleyball has always been a recognized sport.
plez sez: Only at family reunions.

62. Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice.
plez sez: Cadillac Coupe DeVille with power windows, 8 way seats, and an 8 track player - now that's luxury.

63. Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
plez sez: When I grew up, you couldn't watch TV past midnight, because all of the stations went off the air until 5 am.

64. LoJack transmitters have always been finding lost cars.
plez sez: The first car I bought after I graduated from college had LoJack; my car was never stolen, so I don't know if the damn thing even worked.

65. Diane Sawyer has always been live in Prime Time.

66. Dolphin-free canned tuna has always been on sale.
plez sez: Shhh... don't tell anyone, but that dolphin meat added flavor.

67. Disposable contact lenses have always been available.
plez sez: There's no good excuse not to pick on the nerdy geeks anymore; it used to be in bad taste to hit someone who was wearing glasses.

68. "Outing" has always been a threat.
plez sez: See #53.

69. Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss has always been the perfect graduation gift.
plez sez: Graduation from kindergarten, I presume?

70. They have always "dissed" what they don't like.
plez sez: How trite.

71. The U.S. has always been studying global warming to confirm its existence.
plez sez: And Al Gore ahs finally confirmed that it exists... only 20 years after starting the Internet.

72. Richard M. Daley has always been the Mayor of Chicago.
plez sez: And Michael Jackson has always been the King of Pop - I had to find a way to mention his name on here somehow.

73. They grew up with virtual pets to feed, water, and play games with, lest they die.
plez sez: Are there virtual pet cemetaries?

74. Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.
plez sez: "I get high with a little help from my friends" - as sung by Ringo Starr on the Beatle's hit "A Little Help from My Friends" on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album in 1967.

75. Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.
plez sez: It all goes back to those dreaded East Germans and their professional athletes and steroids.

© 2006 Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin

"Survivor" of the Races

The new season of "Survivor: Cook Islands" premiers on Thursday, September 14 on CBS. The group is going to be split into four tribes, with a very interesting twist: the tribes are going to be divided by race! Yes, on Friday morning, September 15, I'm sure the water coolers around the country are going to be a buzz with talk about the newest installation of "Survivor."

There will be a tribe of African-Americans, Whites, Latinos, and Asian-Americans. Does this sound like a good idea to you? Are you offended? Will you watch it?

plez sez: My wife is the Queen of Reality TV, we probably record upwards of 10 hours a week in reality television programming: "Amazing Race", "Big Brother", "I Wanna Be A Soap Star", "Run's House", "Making the Band 3", "Wife Swap", "Supernanny", "Dancing with the Stars", "Project Runway", "Hell's Kitchen", "America's Next Top Model", ad nauseum! She is a little skeptical about the how the tribe members were picked for the show to ensure each racial group has a good swimmer, someone who can function outside, and someone who has ever had to build a fire.

I'm skeptical about the "producers" picking teams that highlight certain racial stereotypes - negative and positive. I'm also worrying what "Survivor" will do in subsequent seasons, pair up KKK and Black Panther tribes, Palestinians and Israeli tribes, Canadians and Americans, Red State and Blue State tribes ... where will it end?!?

To be honest, I'm not offended, actually, it may be a lot of fun! People tend to enjoy socializing with their kind anyway, it may be interesting to see how the teams fare in competition. I wonder if there are any macaque monkeys on Cook Island?

Senator George Allen: 'Macaca' Is Racist

During a recent campaign stop and stump speech, Senator George Allen (a hopeful 2008 Republican Presidential nominee) pointed out a young man who happened to filming the speech and called him a "macaca."

Like many of you, I'd never heard of the word and didn't think much of it, until I read what Jeffrey Feldman wrote in his Frameshop blog, "Yesterday, when the news broke that George Allen called someone at a campaign stop a 'macaca,' I did some Google searches to find out what it meant. As it turns out, the question is not if 'macaca' is a racist term, but which of the three definitions of the word 'macaca' did George Allen intend when he used it?"

It turns out that the word means the same thing in a number of languages:

• 'Macaque' - French : racist slang; a dismissive epithet used by Francophone colonials in Africa for native populations of North and Subsaharan Africans, similar to the English word 'nigger.'
  
• 'Macaca' - English : racist slang; similar to the word 'nigger', used to describe Arabs.
  
• 'Macaca' - English : racist slang; used by American white supremacists in 'insider' talk about African-Americans.

I've posted a clip of the offensive speech here:

plez sez: While standing before a group of his ardent supporters, George Allen shows his true colors!

This is the same George Allen who stirred controversy as governor of Virginia by issuing a proclamation noting the South's celebration of Confederate History Month without the mention of slavery. Now, he goes on the campaign trail using a veiled and racist code word to refer to a person of color, basically calling him a nigger to his face.

Fifty years ago, it's obvious that George Allen would be leading a lynch mob. This isn't the type of man who should leading a state, or righting laws, or - heaven forbid - running this country. It is time for the people of Virginia to send this yokel back to where he came from!

A Musical Interlude

plez sez: All these political posts have given me a headache.

Nothing like a mellow (yet funky) Prince tune and alittle ditty by those hard ass JBs while I throw back this Dewars on the rocks. ENJOY!

Prince - Darling Nikki (album version)


Fred Wesley & The JBs - Doin' It To Death

courtesy of radio.blog.club

Joe Lieberman and the Demise of the Democrats

Picture: Joe Lieberman waves good-bye to the Democratic Party


Joe Lieberman lost the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Conneticut. He still plans to run in November... as an Independent! He's too liberal to be a Republican (ran for Vice President with Al Gore in 2000). He's too conservative to be a Democrat (kisses up to President Bush and gives his support to the War in Iraq). So much for Red States and Blue States!

Joe Lieberman may well be ushering in the demise of the Democratic Party as we know it. During his "concession/announcement" speech last night, he said that he would be running as an Independent Democrat because, "For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand." If you ask me, he is running because the "will of the people" mean absolutely nothing to him. If election laws in Georgia permitted it, I'm sure Cynthia McKinney would run for Congress as a Bad Hair Day Democrat.

And it looks like the party will continue to splinter along special interest lines until it no longer exists. On the horizon, I can see Left-wing Democrats, Moderate Democrats, House Negro Democrats, Field Negro Democrats, Latino Democrats, AFL-CIO Democrats, Gay Rights Democrats, and Woman's Rights Democrats in the future. The party no longer has the glue to keep itself together, it couldn't even mount a formidable offense against a weakened George Bush during the last Presidential Election Cycle.

If the Democrats do not win back either the House or the Senate in November, I predict that the party won't survive the next decade (and Joe Lieberman will help the cause by splintering the Democratic vote and will allow a Republican to take that seat in Conneticut). The Democrats may've run their course, like the Whigs!

My Last Cynthia McKinney Post...

...because she lost. And she lost BIG!

Hank Johnson walloped the fading Congresswoman in all areas of the 4th Congressional District. He is quoted as saying, "It is clear, where most people have a low opinion of the work of our Congress, that they want to see things done differently."

U.S. House - District 4 - Democratic Runoff
Hank Johnson 58.8%
Cynthia McKinney (i) 41.2%
100% of the precincts reporting

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Cynthia McKinney had to take the opportunity to throw some more dirt into the fray by complaining about "voting irregularities" - she claims her name did not appear on some ballots and the voting machines were not working properly in some precincts. But with the results that have been reported, it appears that her complaints are merely sour grapes at losing something that she's held for so long.

The people of the 4th District have FINALLY spoken "Truth to Power" and have given The Cynthia McKinney Congressional Sideshow its walking papers.

plez sez: Good riddance!

Cynthia "Video Vixen" McKinney

I promised myself that I would let it go ... after the debate, there would be no more Cynthia McKinney posts on my blog until after the election next week (I don't want to unfairly swing the vote in her favor!). But I came across this YouTube.com entry on the Georgia Politics Unfiltered blog and I just couldn't help myself.

Here is Cynthia McKinney (and her well-wishers) shufflin' and grinnin' after her bid to return to Congress was thrown into a run-off election. The only things missing are Cindy Sheehan in blackface and a couple of watermelons!

Shake that thang!
Shake that thang!
You gotta shake that thang!

Before you hit the play button, please swallow whatever you are eating or drinking, or I guarantee that it is going to come shooting out of your nose! Enjoy!

Cynthia McKinney & Hank Johnson Sputter to a Draw!

This is my Instant Pudding Reaction to the televised debate between Cynthia "My Boo" McKinney and Hank "The Robot" Johnson.

Tonight at 7:30pm, Cynthia McKinney finally showed up for a televised debate with challenger Hank Johnson as they prepare for the Democratic run-off election for the 4th Congressional District of Georgia. The winner of this election is almost guaranteed the winner of the general election in this overwhelmingly Democratic district.

The debate was simulcast on GPTV (Public Broadcasting) and C-SPAN. It was moderated by local Atlanta news people. If political hardball is your thing, then this was a real slugfest ... unfortunately, both politicians emerged only slightly bruised without a clear cut winner. If you are a McKinney supporter, you probably thought she won. If you are a Johnson supporter, you probably thought that he won. If you were undecided, I doubt that either candidate did anything to make you want to run out and vote on August 8th.

The robot-like Johnson jabbed continuously at McKinney's midsection with the following:

• Missing in Action: McKinney has missed a number of votes in Congress on matters that would have importance to the constituents in the 4th District.
  
• Desperation: McKinney is in a run-off election for her political life and she, in her desperation, will say or do anything!
  
• Doesn't Play With Others: Because of her shrill and bombastic manner, no one (neither Democrats nor Republicans) want anything to do with her and as a result, she is ineffectual in Congress.
  
• Outsiders' Money: Although, McKinney tried to portray Johnson as the recipient of lots of money from outside the state of Georgia, she basically conceded that the bulk of the money she has received for her campaign came from states like New York, California, and Nevada.

The bubbly McKinney counterpunched Johnson's flank with the following pablum:

• Tax Liens & Bankruptcy: Johnson admitted to some financial problems stemming from non-payment of taxes back in the 1980's, as a result he had to file for bankruptcy.
  
• Cozy with Republicans, Developers, and Landfill Operators: McKinney kept hammering away to the fact that Johnson has seeming strong Republican support, with campaign contributions from a former Republican Gubernatorial Candidate and large business owners; in addition, she kept punching away about him being cozy with "developers" and "landfill operators" who do business with DeKalb County.
  
• Too Quiet: McKinney speaks "Truth to Power" and she claims that Hank Johnson will go to Washington and keep his mouth shut, since he is going to be a lackey for the Republicans-in-Charge.
  
• Overdevelopment in DeKalb County: On Hank's watch, there was a massive sewage spill and a big water main break just last week in DeKalb County. Ms. McKinney attributed these problems to Hank Johnson being cozy with the Developers and allowing them to overdevelop the county

Each delivered some nice punches, but neither had the sustained coordinated effort needed to build the momentum for a knockout punch (it was like watching two bantam weights flail at each other for 3 rounds and then have the referee call it a draw). Each stayed firmly entrenched in their 3 or 4 talking points and rehearsed responses. The moderators couldn't even get much of a rise out of McKinney for her Capitol Hill incident (which Johnson never followed up on - it obviously wasn't on his notes). And no one can get a rise out of the robotic Hank Johnson, his responses were always monotoned, short on details, and replete with George W. Bush-like sound bites (maybe he is cozy with Republican speech writers).

Well, I already voted (last week)... and there was nothing offered tonight that would've made me switch my vote to Cynthia McKinney. In my opinion, they sputtered to a draw.

Cynthia McKinney to Debate Hank Johnson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Cynthia McKinney has agreed to participate in a debate with Hank Johnson for the Fourth District Congressional Democratic Run-off Election that is scheduled for August 8, 2006.

The article states, "We’ve gotten word from the Atlanta Press Club that all candidates in the statewide, televised run-off debates the group will host on GPTV have confirmed their attendance.

For those still suffering from Election Night hangovers, the key word in the above sentence is “all.” As in, even Cynthia McKinney. She missed a couple in the primary, but apparently has re-prioritized."

plez sez: My, my, my! What a difference a poor showing in the Primary Election and an erosion of your political base will do to you. Just two weeks ago, Ms. McKinney was too confident that she would win the primary election outright, so she blew off all political debates and forums that included her two primary challengers. But when it was clear that there is so much Anti-McKinney Sentiment in the Fourth Congressional District, Ms. McKinney knows that she is in a fight for her political life.

She limped back into Congress when her last serious contender (Denise Majette, who beat her handily in the 2002 Primary Election) decided to run for the U.S. Senate. If she looses her grip on the Fourth again, she may as well move to Clayton County where those voters may be more inclined to warm to her particular brand of "loud-mouth-do-nothing" representation that has marred her 12 years of Washington, D.C. occupation.

I'm not that concerned about the outcome of the debate on Monday, July 31st: Cynthia McKinney will undoubtedly look like a buffoon who needs to start packing her assortment of hot combs that currently sit in her in Washington, D.c. office, and Hank Johnson will come off as a cool and staid, yet competent, alternative to the McKinney Sideshow we've been unfortunate to witness for the past 12 years. My only hope is that the voters return to the polls on August 8th and send a clear message that Ms. McKinney's brand of politics (and behavior) is deemed unacceptable by the constituents of Georgia's Fourth Congressional District.

BLOG UPDATE (July 31, 2006): The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a new poll shows Hank Johnson with a 2-to-1 lead over incumbent Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic run-off for the 4th District Congressional race.

Free Post

It's been awhile since I've been able (or had the inclination) to blog with frequency: I have a new job, I have been traveling every week, and my weekends are not my own. But I'm still here and I'll continue to post on occasion. When my current project eases up a bit, you may see me post more often.

I would love to hear from my blog buddies, so drop an update in the Comments.

I did come across an interesting website today: "Abolish the "N" Word"

I found the site to be interesting... well, the opening salvo is very eye-opening and gives one pause. I have resolved that I will no longer use the "N" word, but the site appears to have some factual inaccuracies (about the origin of the word "nigger", when it entered the lexicon of American English, and when we started referring to it as the "N" word). Be that as it may, I may even purchase a pack of cards and pass them around.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Sold to Group in Atlanta

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Andrew Young, and a host of civic, education and business leaders have struck a deal with the family of Martin Luther King Jr. to buy an extensive collection of the civil rights leader's writings for $32 million.

Coretta Scott King for years kept the collection in the basement of her west Atlanta home after her husband's assassination in 1968. Sotheby's first tried to sell the papers in 2003 for the King estate — which at the time included Coretta Scott King, who died Jan. 30, and her four grown children: Dexter, Bernice, Martin III and Yolanda. At that time, Sotheby's could not come to an agreement on terms with the family.

The papers will be going "home" to Morehouse College in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King, Jr. received his bachelors degree.

plez sez: "Yes" with a triumphant fist pump!

Six Flags Hairstyle Ban - Not a Good News Story!

Jonathan DeLeon, 17, was hired at Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland, in March to wear the costumes of Sylvester and Daffy Duck. A few weeks later, he said he was told to cut his braids, which were at least 3 feet long. His mother cut more than 2 feet of his hair, park officials were dissatisfied and demanded that his hair be cut shorter.

The Associate Press (AP) reports that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is investigating complaints from more than a dozen black employees at a Six Flags theme park who were told their hairstyles were inappropriate.

plez sez: This takes me back to the early- to mid-1970's when the Afro was all the rage. We had hot combs and blowout kits (who can forget that vile smelling Vigaro) to help achieve maximum length of our naturally curly hair. Even though the girls would swoon over the guy with the largest Afro, many white employers, school administrators, and athletics coaches balked at our attempt at "self expression" with our hairstyles. Many a Black man missed out on a job opportunity, countless Black boys were suspended from school, and numerous guys opted out of playing basketball or football because they didn't want to cut their hair.

My parents put my three older brothers and I on a bus to visit my Aunt Beatrice down south for the summer when I was 8 years old. When we got off the Greyhound bus, she shrieked at how long our hair was. Our first stop (before even going to her house) was the barber shop, where all of our Afros were left on the cutting room floor. And so went our little Black Power Movement!

My point is... some things never change. As long as "we" are working for "them", we'll have to occasionally put up with their B.S.! When "we" are in a position of power (i.e. you know, the Golden Rule), then "we'll" be able to wear our Afros and dreadlocks and jheri curls to our hearts desire. Just as my Aunt Beatrice wasn't going to have four Afros running around her house all summer, it doesn't appear that Six Flags is going to stand for it either.

I wish the ACLU luck in their pursuit of "justice," but I don't see where they'll be able to get a judge to tell Six Flags to alter the way they want their "product" to look.

LeBron James - Good News Story... well sort of!

King James (of NBA fame) has traded in his jersey for a gray business suit and a hard hat. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that LeBron James and his business associates (a group of friends from high school formed LRMR Development LLC) are investors in a housing project in an urban neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio.

plez sez: I applaud anyone who has the where with all to make a difference to use their popularity (and money) to do good things in our communities. Even though, this is my good news story for the day, upon reading the entire article, you should note that the 18-unit development will feature two- and three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot townhouses expected to sell for $265,000 to $325,000 each.

This ain't no public housing project! It sounds like a gentrification project to me, I wonder how many people from the 'hood will be able to afford one of these units?

It's My Birthday ... yeah!!!

My Birthdate: June 22

You tend to be understated and under appreciated. You have a hidden force to do amazing things, doing them your own way. People may see you as strange and shy, but they know little. Your unconventional ways have more power than they (and even you) know. Your strength: Standing up for what you know is true Your weakness: You tend to be picky and rigid Your power color: Silver (it's really Red!) Your power symbol: Square Your power month: April ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Same birthday as Clyde "The Glide" Drexler (Former NBA Star) Same birthdate as Ed Bradley (of "60 Minutes) and Meryl Streep (Oscar Award Winning Actress)

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

"Game of Shadows" Contains Lies

In this age of grand schemes and book selling phenoms, along comes the "Game of Shadows" to cast a glaring light into the steroid consuming lifestyle of one Barry Bonds. But wait a second, in all of the hoopla and "we knew it!" frenzy, it appears that the authors have inserted some non-truths (maybe even some downright lies).

In an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Olympic track diva Gail Devers alleges that "Game of Shadows" has impuned her reputation by erroneously including her name and accounts of her life in the book. She calls it "guilt by association." Tucked away in the book in a section titled Cheat or Lose, the authors allege that Devers trained under a coach who was later found guilty of distributing performance enhancing substances. He supposedly trained her for the Olympics and she supposedly went to his 70th birthday party and gave him a plaque that read "The Greatest Track Coach of All Time." They also said that injuries kept her from competing in 5 Olympic games.

In actuality, Gail Devers never trained with this coach, never went to his birthday party, and never gave him a plaque. And she did compete in 5 Olympic games. Devers has demanded a public apology (in the form of a press release) from the authors and the book's publisher, but they refuse to do so. They did offer to give her a private apology and remove her name from future editions of the book; "Game of Shadows" has over 308,000 copies in print and the book peaked at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Sellers list.

plez sez: This story is disturbing on a number of fronts. I am not a track aficionado, but I have heard of Gail Devers, the five time Olympic gold medalist and know the story of how she battled Graves' disease. It is a shame that her name was dragged into this steroids mess (if even on the periphery) because of sloppy work by the authors of the book. I think authors are supposed to research these types of reports before writing them as fact (in the article, they claimed to have gotten this information from "American Track & Field" magazine and she never complained about the inaccuracies from that periodical).

In their zealous attempts to smear Barry Bonds, these authors have gone to great lengths to substantiate their claims with faulty and incorrect information. If this is section of the book is so wrong and so off base, it calls into question what other sections of the book are wrong and off base. Maybe the accounts of creams, gels, and injections may be factually incorrect. Maybe some of their sources lied and these authors only used information that substantiated their claims that Barry Bonds had full knowledge of his steroids use. Maybe Barry Bonds was unaware that he was using steroids.

I don't know. But it makes me wonder what else is incorrect in this book, "Game of Shadows."

Martin Luther King, Jr Papers for Sale

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports that Sotheby's in New York plans to auction more than 10,000 manuscripts and books written by Martin Luther King Jr. on June 30. Dr. King was the face and the force behind the Civil Rights Movement from the Birmingham Bus Boycott through the signing of the Civil Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson. These documents by Dr. King are easily some of the most important papers produced during the 20th century. The plan is to raise between $15 and $20 million from the sale.

plez sez: I only hope that this information will finally be put in the public domain. The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. transcends any gain by the family and I only hope that one day my daughter will be able to see, touch, and read what was written by Dr. King in his handwriting. These treasures deserve a public audience on par with the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence.

And with the money, maybe the King Family will get their collective act together to save the King Center for Nonviolent Change and turn that place into a world class museum about the civil rights movement.

Blog Alert - Movie Review Posted

It's been WEEKS since I've had the opportunity to get on here and dump my thoughts on plezWorld. I've been very busy interviewing and changing jobs/companies, nursing a tweaked hamstring injury, traveling, keeping an eye on Barry Bonds' assault on the record books, and scampering around suburbia. And all that's happened in the last four weeks! Whew!

Well, I've finally gotten around to posting my review of the 1915 epic "The Birth of a Nation" by D.W. Griffin. I wasn't blown away by the movie because it is quite old and dated, but it does have an effect. Check it out and post your thoughts.

Barry Bonds : 715

Well, it's over! For me, the Bonds Watch has culminated with him becoming Number Two on the all-time home run list behind Hank Aaron. ESPN.com reports that at 2:14pm on May 28, 2006, Barry Bonds connected on a 90 mph fastball from Byung-Hyun Kim of the Colorado Rockies to send #715 (a 445-foot rocket) into the stands.

plez sez: All together now, "Barry! Barry! Barry!"

Don't worry, Bonds doesn't have enough juice left in those legs to carry him past Hank Aaron (a personal favorite of mine) on the home run list. I'm just glad he got the "Babe Ruth Monkey" off his back, since that 714 number is sooooo damn old and Babe Ruth dominated an inferior game complete with inferior pitching, smaller ballparks, and by many accounts, not even the best pitching available during that time (remember, Blacks were relegated to the Negro Baseball League until 1945).

Oh yeah, the steroids thing looms large over this accomplishment. Two things to keep in mind; (1) Barry Bonds has NEVER tested positive for using the stuff and steroids were only banned by baseball a few years ago, and (2) I'm not a medical doctor, but steroids may help you hit the ball farther, but they do nothing to improve hand-eye coordination or help one in getting the bat around to hit the ball.

Barry Bonds is a pariah with the media and this is the ONLY reason he is being pilloried with this trumped up steroids non-issue! If this was Mark McGuire (a media darling), every media outlet would've been broadcasting that historic home run. I hope Barry Bonds' knees hold up so that he can play another 2 years just to rub the sports writers' noses in his prowess as the Greatest Baseball Player Ever!

9/11 - Pentagon Attack Video

For the first time, the Pentagon released images of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the images, recorded by Pentagon security cameras outside the building, were made public in response to a December 2004 Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, a public interest group. Some still images from the video had previously been leaked and publicly circulated, but this was the first official release.

You can view the video on the Freedom of Information Act page on the US Department of Defense website. Click on the links for Videos of American Flight 77 striking the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 (they are the sixth bullets on the page).

plez sez: After viewing the on-line video "911 Loose Change 2nd Edition" and then seeing this footage of a something crashing into the Pentagon, the whole scenario of 9/11 becomes very fuzzy for me. I'm not normally prone to conspiracy theories, but if you look at the Pentagon footage, you will see that there is no way that it was a commercial airline hitting the Pentagon. It is a small silver streak in one frame and then a large fireball. But the fireball quickly burns out and you see large billows of black smoke. Commercial planes (especially a 757) are huge and even at 350 mph, you would expect to see a much larger presence on the screen and a much larger explosion (a la the planes that hit the World Trade Center) than what shows up in the Pentagon surveillance video.

The American public has been had. I have no doubt that something much smaller than a commercial airliner - like a cruise missile - crashed into the Pentagon. I'm beginning to believe that much of 9/11 was planned by the Bush Administration to provide fodder for the war machine and our eventual invasion of Iraq. I'd love to be proved wrong.