Turner

I remember that game Chris. Hey, Peter gave him a run for his money as well on the other side lol but yes I see what you're saying. I think it's fair to have a wait and see approach. I do understand where he is coming from on getting a dog to sort of reverse the whole dynamic of him being a dog killer as part of his treatment. I used to volunteer in a center that dealt with such issues before. Learned a lot of stuff. Thanks for the reply.

You a shit talker I see. Sarcasm is your choice of weaponry. I can dig it. I just don't care, I'm good. Say whatever you like whatever your name is.

Shout out to Micheal Vick. What you fans don't know is that on an organization level Philly got all of y'all thinking that they wanted Kolb as the starter. When in reality, it was silent motivation for Mike to reclaim his spot in the NFL as a starter an human hilight film as the signal caller. Since being dropped like a bad habit by Atlanta, the man has gone through hell only few can ever even attempt to imagine. Lost over 100 million dollar in salary in the blink of a eye, public humiliation and even did a stint in the bing and worked construction afte getting released. Damn, Virginia is hurting boy. First, AI then Vick, then Charlie Brown went crazy (Chris Brown)...but thanks to Trey Songz, Virginia is not looking that bad these days. Hold up, this is about Vick, though. The man not the football player (well both actually) had to do some growing up. At 30 years old. And, he's far from alone in this world. Andy Reid you know is his current coach and a little more understandng of the man's situation having two sons who ran afoul of the law and dealt with that as a coach in charge of running a tight ship for Jeffrey Lurie's team. Well, he realized no matter how you raise yor children sometimes it just doesn't work. Reid is a devout Mormon. Vick and his even more troubled brother Marcus grew up Protestant in grimy ass Newport News. Same place AI from. Somehow they made it out and on to millions, playing a game they played for free as young'uns. Then, found ways to conviniently fuck it up. Whether it was them directly or in connection with others. I know what these gentleman mean to their community. Vick given a second chance in a world that wanted him burned at the stake like a slave in the 1800s, has made great strides as a man first, leader and quarterback in general. He relied on talent before his fall, now he relies on the lessons he learned under McNabb and Reid during those practices and two-a-days during the offseason. He signed for a hell of lot less than he was worth once before. But, the opportunity was worth a billion if you know the situation he was truly up against. Vick had to see how they played him. Kolb start over me? Reid is daring me to take this spot. Heck, people have to be looking at me like I'm either going to do that or be finished for good as a occasional sub for the wildcat offense package the Iggles (yes Iggles) run. He's faster again than anyone on the field. He decision making has caught up to his wheels. He knows to take the checkdown if his progression yields no potential YAC and a completion. Progress was made as a professional! It's okay. Come back next down and give yourself a chance and your teammates an opportunity to make a play for you. I'm proud of the man and I'm not even an Eagles fan. Growing up is a tough thing for many to do even with priviledge far out of sight the average person can enjoy in this world. Next test: Take down Washington and the past, Donovan, to signal it's a new sheriff shutting it down. Now, if you think both QBs ain't thinking about both outcomes and what it will say about Philadelphia's decision to let their franchise leader walk to a division rival, you don't know football. Sure Vick is 30, but if he can maintain his progress for the next few seasons, he will have justified the move they made to pick him up out the muck and mire to say, "Here's your shot, don't fuck it up...again." Part of me want's to play devil's advocate here and say that they absolutely would not be loving Mike if Philly was a losing squad. But, that's the beauty of the whole thing. Just two short years ago here this same man was a convict in prison, where most hardly return to even a marginal type of opportunity, let alone stage to showcase whatever abilities a ex-con may have, but he was given a shot and certainly has not let anyone down thus far. I'm praying that this brother continues to excel on the field as well as off and in the community that has for the love of the pigskin embraced him and allowed for a safe transition back into mainstream society as a productive citizen. Thank God for Tony Dungy. Thank God for people who helped him get back into shape, even ex-teammate Donovan McNabb who put his ego aside to lead the cheers to sign him. They took the time to see that he was a human being who made mistakes, but also didn't want to throw his life away or wallow in self-pity for losing the record-breaking contract or endorsements. I also would challenge America to look further into this circumstance by observing what someone can do if we as a country invest something into the lives of people who we cast away and lock up but do their time and come back to the world just seeking to move on and get better as people once released. Is that rehabilitating them or sweeping our problems under the rug? Far too often because of a lack of publicity or a big corporation like the NFL to help out, people come back to little or nothing and are tasked with the impossible for some who have never been behind such institutions. I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on Michael, his circumstance or even friends or possibly family members who may have dealt with the same lot in life. R. D. Turner

Ok Cynique, what's your problem like for real? Is that all you have to offer is pissing on people's parades and attempt at adding something else of interest at a board that is already pretty cool are you really all that serious? It's one thing to not be into or even like what someone's interpretation are on things, but I can accept whatever you can toss out. It ain't the first time I done received responses like yours and won't be the last so do what you gotta do. Oh, by the way if it's too elementary for you and so obvious then try another post. I don't have to wrap my words in nothing fluffy it's just how I write. Now, I'ma take the high road on the all this obvious HATIN' goin on even if you don't care for what I write there's plenty of other posts for you to check out and run off your penny candy psychology to. I'm not a person that wants to turn my post into a competition that's what it was about. I'm sure you have a slick response for this. Save it. You said your piece and that's fine. I also apologize if I mistook you for a brother, being that you are a woman. You should know most folks aren't at all tuned into what gender people are most times unless it's obvious by your tag. I get the feel for people are by reading their posts first then I look a little deeper into your identity. That's just how I do things so excuse me. Now, somehow we went from me just asking everyone what their opinion of my observation was to clean up on aisle self-esteem because I called Cynique a dude. Wow. Next!

I see you love to paraphrase...lol Well, I do agree with this notion of celebrities bailing bunglers out of their being prone to mistake or failed relationship after failed relationship. It is sad that people will actually pore over the words in a desperate attempt for some nuggets of knowledge to apply to their own individual situations. If they fail to get anything from him, tell them to try Superhead's book! lol

What The Dog Saw Malcolm Gladwell. Great book so far.

Sure Troy. I will summarize it with the basic premise that we all enter this game by default. Some are better equipped to play it or even exploit it than others. Some are conscious of it being much like a game where the brother pointed out the competitive aspect of a free-market society and some assume that's just the way it is and try not to think of it in that way. Call them our good-natured religious folk or the struggling artist/thespian. This occured to me when I watched Wall Street's first movie and I haven't been able to shake that reality that only an Oliver Stone film can shape. Two objectives stand out in life for those of us who do not enter with an inheritance to carry us through a life cycle: capital. Social, political, residential and industrial. Which of course translates into financial and investment capital. Which is then passed on to our offspring to inherit from us.

lol I agree with that. He DOES need love from that demographic even if at this time he chooses to focus on black females. My only point in my post was basically screaming that. So, forget about the Spike comparison and all of that and boil it down to just a lack of balance in his film which we all know he has the creativity and ability to direct that on a film and showcase it to the world. Black males need positive portrayals too. If our own directors such as Tyler refuse to, can anyone say Oliver Stone is going to give us a shot to be that in one of his films? I think not. So, forget about his lack of responsibility for our race, that's obvious it's too complex and broad for his shoulders alone to bear. But, god damn Tyler can we just get more positive roles. That's all I'm saying. I could intellectualize my response on this but for what? The simplicity is saying everything that needs to be said. We can't live in the past, we live in an age where civil rights leaders of long ago like Bobby Seale or Dr. King couldn't even in their greatest days do what Obama did this year, because they didn't live in a time where our country wanted that kind of leadership from us. Which is said to say, this is what I mean. We can create the image and really live up to them now. Goes both ways really, when you look at the lack of steady employment in our economy room for upward mobility as was stated earlier by one of you and people get tired of shuffling their feet, shucking and jivin' while Kobe is getting his and Lil Wayne is raping the market musically. We need more doctors, lawyers, entrepenuers. I see very few movies that show a black man as a lawyer. We have off the top of my head two I can think of, Denzel in Philadelphia and Will in Enemy of The State which to me was a brilliant performance. Now, obviously those are just movies. But, if I was a young black male watching even the possiblity on screen, back when everything is still idealistic for us before we run into the all-encompassing reality of social competition, it may persuade that young man to want to be like Will and not Mike all the time. We have 10s of thousands who have hoop dreams because if they watch on TNT a game, that's all they see is us. When the reality hits them that it's not easy to covet and land a actual starting or even bench role on an NBA roster (400 est.) that's when it becomes apparent about how we often unconsciously miseducate one another as Carter G. Woodson wrote about and Lauryn depicted in her classical debut. But, then we may wheel around and simply blame parents for what they're kids do or don't do. Who knew it was that easy? R. D. Turner

Obvious, to whom? I had to laugh at that for a minute. As for the rest of your response, I would venture to say precisely. Which is why my second book will be about social competition. Already a step ahead there. So, it came as no surprise when you also drew that conclusion. However, I don't believe it's at all obvious to the majority of society. That's like when some of us read 48 Laws of Power. We immediately said to ourselves, okay cool...but (gulp) who else has read this or better yet been putting those laws into application? The mere thought alone was enough to stifle me for a week as I reflected upon that.

Game. After watching the sequel to Wall Street, “Money Never Sleeps”, director Oliver Stone did a wonderful job to shoot the film with the focus on what these traders did on a regular basis. The story tells itself, but he focused on the nooks and crannies, which he is a master at. He captured the mannerisms and little details, such as a broker guzzling down a 5 hour energy drink, which gives the viewer insight to the job and what it takes to perform it. Trading stock, analyzing it and managing it requires high brain activity, linear thinking and some ad-libbing when things get hot in the kitchen. Most of us will not participate in such a high-risk, high-reward outfit to make our fortunes in this world, because it takes a certain kind of individual to be able to stay cool and calm under pressure and make sound financial decision with other people’s money, in an effort to make them even more of it. So, that not only will they secure that person or firm’s security, but possibly future generations that share in those estates and often end up inheriting the whole ‘Kit and Caboodle.’ Now this is why I chose to write about the game in general. There was a shot in the movie where the young upstart questions his long-time mentor about his firm possibly being in trouble or even worse, the mentor looks at the young man with anxiety a world over and tells him to marry his girlfriend and have kids, not to wait. In other words, not to waste time in the business chasing the next buck, wasting half your life and waking up many years later with little to show for it, besides material wealth that you earn from that industry if you’re good at it. I won't give away what happens to his mentor when his firm is bought out and essentially dismantled, but in that game you swallow, compete or get swallowed by the fishes all in the same sea. Everyone in life doesn't have a focus on career and fortune, they would rather focus on faith after so many decades of seeing how the game impacts them and others in general. So pick a religion and start praying. I began to think about that and then the very next shot shows young children blowing bubbles in New York’s Central Park, many years away from being in situations that those adults were discussing over a few feet away. I believe in God, but I live in a world where I still have to earn a living as best I can and serve God at the same time. The focus is not on the money I earn, but what I do with that money. To provide for my family as best I can, to afford them a life and have opportunities to take care of themselves beyond my care, so that one day maybe they can return the favor and take care of me, when I’m old or if I contract cancer possibly. Nobody knows how their game will play out and what will happen beyond the present day and night. Fortunes get made and lost all the time. People rise and fall in the same manner. If you aren’t aware of that, you should be. I thought about how children view the adults around them in those situations. They know that seeing them in suits and ties symbolizes that what they do for a living is rather important. They don’t know what they do and what is involved in that racket, but they are able to enjoy life in a certain way because of their parents who provide that for them due to the work that they do and whatever risks have to be coped with and handled to continue to play that game within the bigger game of life survival. Even wives who are removed from what their husbands do and spend many hours behind a desk seem to not fully understand it in its entirety if they are simply homemakers. Now, if they are professionals themselves in a similar industry, then they sort of see the circumstance through the same eye. It helps them relate to the lack of time that they may spend together with intimate encounters and their relationship overall. It would be the same way for athletes, entertainers or politicians obviously. I don’t know how many people will see the sequel of original, or even care about the lives of investors or their offspring, but I wanted to point all of this out to relay the sentiment that this is a game within a game. Whatever you have chosen to do with your life, your position, the way you approach your life is one and the same. Think of how Jordan approached even practice. Some think it doesn’t matter what you do in practice, because it’s simulation and doesn’t count toward what a team does in a real game or season. When you are in your early twenties, life seems to be all in front of you. You seem to have plenty to time to piss away days and decline to pay credit card balances off, default on minor loans, etc. But, in the grand scheme of the game, it eventually always catches up to you. Those things become habit for some, which become very difficult to break and ends up hurting individuals, families and business or banks that allow opportunity after opportunity to this person and this person. We saw how the economy tanked and how fast it did. We’ve struggled to recover, because those things take time and a lot of financial maneuvering by either the government or executives at banks and businesses to resume a healthy economy and not even a stimulus will completely resolve. The people who spend the money that they earn from whatever game they play, whether it’s in the hundreds, thousands or millions, the system we live under only works when we spend and spend and…spend. Everyone may not be aware of that, but a recession makes it painfully obvious. Why do we seem to only move when it gets to that point? Because we are humans. The doctor told Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano if you don’t lose the weight, we have to take out the knee. So, a very heavy coach becomes a new and improved svelte one when the motivation is deemed essential to his survival as a person. It wouldn’t be fun to coach on one knee. Movement is essential to him functioning well in his line of work. We don’t mess with the donuts. We need those donuts to buy plasma TVs and take vacations to St. Barts in the offseason. But, if your team doesn’t win games, you won’t be around long anyway. How many mistakes do you make in your game? How bad do they hurt you or the ones around you? Do you know what you’re doing in your game? I have this big thing with people where I always tell them, “know you’re fucking job.” “Know it. Live it. Breathe it. Sleep with it until you’re good at it.” Whatever that job is. A fan may not know the difference between a 4 or 5 hole to pick up 2 yards with the defense bearing down, all they care about is the running back picking up the first down or scoring a touchdown. But, it’s that back’s job to know. It’s no difference between that and a broker knowing his game and what stocks are moving, which are dogs (bad or worthless stock), when you have clients that give a damn about where their money is being put. The object of that game is capital gain and long-term equity, bottom line. Not for everybody overall, but for most of us who are earning our fortunes in whatever game we play, it is. Clients don’t care what you’re resume says or where you went to school. A Harvard MBA is impressive, no doubt about it. But, if I’m not happy with my portfolio earnings every quarter, I’m looking elsewhere to invest, point blank. I worked too hard in my game, for you to be inept in yours, when I’m paying you a commission to be a champion. The reputation of your firm and all of Wall Street rests on your ability to beat the game every trader, each day plays to dominate in the same way. Talk about pressure. The children that greet you every day at your high rise don’t know that. Nor, do they care; you’re just dad to them. The guy with the briefcase that we see sometimes and videotapes us at our recital with mommy. Nobody lives life to be a failure. To embarrass themselves in the overall game (life) or the game within the bigger one (construction foreman). How you choose to live it and what you do with the compensation is up to you and nobody’s business but your own. Either you’re able to live comfortable and take care of yourself and others or not. You decide what game you will play in high school and some even before that point in their lives. Some are naturals in their game such as Lakers captain Kobe Bryant. Some groom themselves in theirs such as actor Ethan Hawke. The referees are all around you. Bosses and police officers and the government. The spectators watch your every move. We all want to win at our games and the game overall. Some have an opportunity to play both games; some can only play the game of life and wait for a game to give them a chance, if qualified. Who is qualified and who isn’t is in the hands of the gatekeepers of what position in question. I would be interested in what others would have to say toward this observation. Turner.

Well, my laptop froze on me so I will not spend more time by retyping my original response. I will say that Steve may have learned from his faults as well as his successes in those relationships. And, I know many people who should learn both sides in regards to relationships, because let's face it...there are things that go right and don't in them. Better to be prepared and have ways of dealing and coping than being blind sided. Which I think as a person who has personally experienced in his failed marriages apparently, it does make him a credible source to learn something from and even laugh about along the way. We could say the same about Chris Rock on a stage or Juanita Bynum in a church who are also celebrities. They fill demand with supply along with the help of a lit. agent publicist and sell others what they enter bookstores for. To be entertained and informed. He may not be an expert at love, but that doesn't mean we can't learn something from him either. So, I commend him for stepping up and at least being willing to take criticism for his past and hand us insight into a complementive present and future. Here's the real kicker though, if he doesn't write his book where do people who want to learn about relationships turn to to improve their relationships or themselves in relationships then? The only other way to learn is by fumbling or completely failing ourselves in actual relationships. Some might say well ask your pastors for help or parents. But, what if they are as equally challenged and even unwilling to impart advice because of that or the desire for privacy about their blemishes in that department of life? My parents had a tumultuous relationship, but survived 20 years and counting. As one of the people replied to in this post, there are no rules. What applies for one couple may be the opposite in another's affair. Then there are obviously the base etiquettes to learn and apply. But, we damn sure don't learn about this in school growing up. R. D. Turner

Thank you for welcoming me Troy. I will be a presence in this forum, because I love to hash it out and gain insight into how we truly feel and what we think as African-Americans today. I do agree with your response in some aspects. Tyler's demographic from a business standpoint is clearly women. I get that. I also will agree the sole responsibility should not fall on his shoulders and I did say that in my piece. The Teri and Toni comment makes sense. I just feel bad that all we seem to look like in those kinds of films is wife-beaters, dead beat fathers, alcoholics and rapists that's all. But, to each his own. Call it frustration if you will.

We reap what we sow. Let me tell you a few things about Mr. Perry's artistry. I read an article on this man in Oprah magazine recently and came away impressed with him as a director, but after seeing his recent movie I had this question...why does Mr. Perry insist on depicting black males one sided in a negative light most of the time? Hold on y'all, I'm going somewhere with this... Now, I've been a fan of Tyler ever since the very first play that I saw. I can see why Spike Lee was pissed off in the press and had harsh words for him. At first, I thought Spike may have been suffering from the same disease that Lil' Kim is suffering from now in light of Nicki Minaj's emergence as a threat in that game to be highly successful and bury Kim in the past. We know Spike was a legend in his sport with his movies such as School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, etc. But, keeping it real Tyler's the main man in black Hollywood now and Spike is a person who has already been there done that and made a helluva lot of money, too. With that said, Spike also never had to shoot black men in the majority of his films the way Tyler has chosen to shoot them in his films to shine and tell an accurate and entertaining story to his audiences. It begs us male viewers to ask, "Tyler, where's the love?" Russell Crowe broke his wife out of jail. Josh Duhamel was an accidental, but responsible father in his movie. How come all of the black men in most films just beat the same rug of a stereotype? With no recourse of showing males HOW to cope with rough circumstances to overcome. Oh, but excuse me that may not fill the seats in the theater and scorch the box office. Forgive me for my modest ambitions, but allow me to continue. We have listened to women in the R&B world such as legendary Mary J. Blige and her understudy Keyshia Cole rise to fame doing the same thing as far as content to sell to commercial public. The crooning songs of women who live out those songs of pain and heartbreak and tragedy in their real lives that these artists turn around and make platinum records out of and are regarded as heroes to those particular women do it for two reasons: 1. It's profitable 2. There will always be a base of women who will go through the things that make those songs relative to begin with. Sad, but true. Fellas who may hate to hear Jazmin Sullivan sing about "Bustin' The Windows" out your car know they need to step their games up or simply stay away from women if they can't handle the responsibility that comes with dealing with a black woman in whatever day and age. Thank God on the cover of this week's Jet magazine the caption under Mrs. Cole's name with her gracing the cover says that she's moved on past the drama, pain and appreciatively for us men the melodic male-bashing. I feel bad for some dudes and fathers who never get anywhere near as much praise as we do ridicule, and how white males are seen as those responsible leading characters in their race and society in general. We look like rapists, deadbeat dads and so on. Only to be reinforced in every film, song, television sitcom that comes out nowadays to fix a certain perception on to a society that already sees black males as incompetent, incapable and incorrigible individuals, no matter how well raised on first impression unless he looks like a poindexter. Mr. Perry has done this over the course of his catalogue thus far with a few roles and characters in his plays and films that actually do right sometime or at the end of the production. So, it's not a complete negative campaign. However, unless he finds a way in his next few films to spin this perception in the opposite direction, I as a black man cannot honestly say that I am willing to continue my support of his work. Flat out. That's right, I will not be going to ANY PLAY, MOVIE OR WATCH ANY SHOW that this nonsense goes on in. I do understand the context of being objective and having our faults being shown and have no problem with that if there's a balance. But, a lack of one is either a hidden agenda (he was mistreated and abused by males in his past) with venegance on his mind using his work to exercise demons he has behind a cloak of humility and religious frontin' or a lack of creativity which I can't buy because we know how talented he is. He is also bold enough to take chances with his talents as Eddie Murphy has in his career by playing a woman with his Madea character. So, it isn't that. I think about if I had a son and how the same society that sees us depicted like this will be ultimately judging and treating my son from stereotypes that they viewed in a movie which is fictional, but people as you know often times sees it in a real light for whatever reason. Probably, because if the story is told a certain way on a brilliant level it simply shapes reality for us. We believe what we see, perception becomes reality. If you attempt to attribute all of this to mere business reasons, once again I remind you that Spike Lee never had to go this route to win in Hollywood and have not only black America support his work, but also white Americans and otherwise. He blended Latinos (Rosie Perez), Asians and Indians in lesser or supportive roles, but kept the focus on telling our story in a variety of ways and uses of colorful and entertaining characters many times in a positive or neutral instance. He turned Denzel into a icon basically as he was well on his way, but his depiction of Malcolm in X was so great and the way Spike laid it all out over 3 hours was poetic brilliance. We found our James Baldwin of film in that movie and Warner Bros. put Spike and the cast through hell to finance the project. Now, he came out of NYU and went indie from the jump with "She's Gotta Have It," but Tyler had to fight through a lack of notoriety and being homeless and his plays failing several times before hitting it off. So, I can dig the drive it took to overcome and prevail in that sport. He's a competitor, but come on Tyler. You have us looking like niggers (black men) in your movies and only again reinforces us as villians, threats and bad guys while other races don't nearly shoot their men in the same light ALL the time or even MOST of the time. You can make a million For Colored Girls. Look at society out here. We have people walking in front of school boards with pistols and firing live rounds. The problem is that if the social conditions of a people continue to exist untethered and changed for the better of its citizens, being that we are imperfect to begin with and fallible throughout the course of us executing our life's fate, how can people who claim this will do any good for people in general to view this, when all it does it simply reinforce to viewers a type of way that stresses of life are resolved? I make no excuse for violent offenders in relationships or deadbeat dads and Tyler clearly does articulate cinematically that the man was suffering from post traumatic syndrome from being in the military (Ealy's character) long before we watch his alcohol addiction lead him to drop his children out of a window. I just think that it's not necessarily Tyler's sole responsibility to reshape our behavior socially, yet he does not escape accountability for the perception his films surely do incite and challenge us as supporters of his work to distinguish and discern its content. A 17 year old may or may not see all the trees through the forest and look at those scenes for what it offers visually and be satisfied with that to look no further or deeper than the surface. A 40 year old may be jaded to the underlying message that it invokes and simply be apathetical to what those male characters were reaching for in potraying such savagery. R. D. Turner