Troy

Cynique, intellectually I understand the draw. However it has never moved me so emotionally. It is not that I'm resistant to it. In fact, sometimes when I'm at a game and I look around and see the ecstasy on some of the "fanatic's" faces I wish I too could experience the joy, alas I do not. That same goes for concerts. I saw Prince the other day. Maceo Parker, Cassandra Wilson and Shelia E were surprise performers -- it was a really good concert. But again, there were people who were creaming their pants. They see Prince as often as they can, and damn near worship him. I can't that worked up. Sometimes I wish i could, but it is not in me. I get more of a thrill being on the stage or in the game. Don't sleep on March Madness.

Ladies there is nothing like college basketball's March Madness. That said, one thing about me is that unless I'm (or someone I really care about) is actually in the game or I have money riding on it; I can't truly "get into" a game the way many sports fans can -- or even the way you describe Cynique. Sure, as a letter winner from Syracuse University I can appreciate the athleticism. But I never truly understood the mind set of the "fan". You know the kinda cat who was always says "we" won or lost the game. The guy or gal that gets visibly upset or happy based upon the game's out come. You know the brother that will spend much of a good weekend in front of the TV living vicariously through exploits or others -- I never got it. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy going to the occasional game with the fellas or the family. Shoot, I'm even hosting a poker party for the Super Bowl. Sure I'd prefer if the NY Jets win the AFC championship, but if they don't I will not lose and ounce of sleep. The only concern I'm likely to have regarding the Super Bowl's score is that the numbers I've been assigned on that 10 by 10 matrix match the score of at least one of the quarters.

I'm not sure what changed to allow the recent deluge of spammers to affect the board. To make matter worse, last night as I was deleted spam posts and accounts I made the unfortunate mistake of approving about 40 accounts that were clearly bogus. Because of another technical issue I'm unable to delete those accounts right now, but I will shortly. Thanks for your patience and to those of you that notified me of the problem.

Yeah this was excellent post.

What is the cure for battered wife syndrome? Perhaps that is the cure for Black America. I know battered wifes (people) lash out at those that try to help help; and the battered seek solace from the people abusing them. The parallels to Black America are numerous. Even more fascinating is Cynqiue, Troy an Chris agree on a topic.

Funny I noticed the date part 'cause I signed a document today dating it 1/1/11. I think I'll plan a party for November 11th 2011, which is friday night, and do something freaky at 11:11PM that is ten ones huh? Add up all those ones and you get "10" (1+0=1)! That is the power of one.

Yeah Cynique I've seen the errors of my ways. I recall you and a few others here were willing to look at Obama without the rose colored glasses. Oh well you live and learn. Merry Christmas! (I'm up working, this Christmas morning, while my entire family is still in bed. When the kids were youger they would have been up since 5AM dragging us out of bed by 6AM)

On Tuesday I made a post on my blog entitled “Tavis Smiley is no good for Black folks!” The provocative title was used to encourage people to read the post so that I could talk about one of the good things Tavis has done and that is start SmileyBooks. I began by describing why I did not always like Tavis. My dislike for Tavis really began when I saw Tavis’ reaction to Barack’s declining to participate in Tavis’ State of Black America forum. However in hindsight my impression of Tavis has changed to one that is very favorable. I discovered pretty quickly that many people – at least those that commented on my Blog and on Facebook page DESPISE Tavis! I was actually quite surprised by the reaction. The strongest critics of Tavis have no problem overlooking everything Tavis has accomplished simply because he continues to critique President Obama. It seems no one can really criticize the president without being vilified. I know some of y’all don’t agree with everything the President has said or done. Are you too dogged by your friends or family for this reason? Whenever I question ANYTHING Obama has done folks always say stuff like “we’ll he is better than George Bush” or make some other accommodation to explain his actions. Y’all know I predicted Barack would win before he even announced he was running. Y’all also know I supported him primarily because he was a Brother. What I find it pathetic is that many Black folks will continue to praise Barack without reservation on every activity while we continue to catch the most hell and seemingly, have our votes and support taken for granted. I guess I was guilty of the same thing supporting Barack simply because he was Black—in hindsight, that was a mistake too. I too was willing to overlook lack Barack’s lack of experience, for example, by saying, “he can’t be worse than George Bush”. Anyone who opposed Barack was simply a self-hating negro. This unconditional, worship of Barack Obama (or any man) will do us no good, no good at all. It is not just Black folks. Barack was given the Noble Peace Prize while continuing to escalate forces in Afghanistan and reneging on the promise to close Gitmo. I not even saying I disagree with those actions; but a Noble Peace prize – come on?!

Turner, man, Superhead's books are #1, #2 and #3 on the AALBC.com's all time bestselling books lists on AALBC.com. I tell you it is cultural man. You can judge a society by what and how they consume. Linda, I hear you.

Hey Turner, I read your piece, would you mind summarizing your main point? I was left spinning on one of the "multi-verse of concentric circles".

Turner, your question: "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?", illustrates my point. See it would never occur to me that a comedian, who has demonstrated marginal relationship skill, would be expected (or even desired) to teach something that should come from one's parents, religion, and culture. These skills should be as fundamental to the culture as language. Your so called "kicker" is illustrative of a very serious cultural problem. I realize there are people who will read the book purely for entertainment value. However I also know there will be people who will be reading Steve's book because they need help. This is the real tragedy. I believe Steve’s attempt to help is sincere, and for that I commend him too. I just lament the fact that a book like Steve Harvey’s makes sense and is “needed”. The American culture is like a child without a parent; lost, prone to fits and outbursts, no sense of anything outside its own self-interest -- desperately in need of help and guidance. The only saving grace is that there is a world of potential here...

This from Leroy Baylor... spread the word to music lovers and those who need healing 'The Healing Power of Music' is the topic when Bernie Worrell is interviewed on 'Respect For Life' Airing live on WHCR, 90.3 FM, Harlem Community Radio Monday, December 20 at 9AM Eastern Time WHCR is heard in Upper Manhattan, South Bronx, Astoria, East Elmhurst, Queens; Teaneck and Englewood, NJ. also streaming live on www.whcr.org Bernie Worrell is one of the most creative, intellectual geniuses in the music business. This makes him a perfect guest to explore the healing power of music; plus, how his compositions tapped into the spirit of the millions of fans who love the music he wrote or co-wrote for Parliament and The Funkadelics. If you miss the interview, Worrell is appearing at Joe's Pub in Manhattan this weekend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUiZNoeU6b4

Chris this is one reason I wish I was about 10 years older. I simply was not old enough to attend AND apprciate Parliament/Funkadelic. My introduction to Clinton and crew can in the late 70's via strong party song "Flashlight". However I did not discover what I call the "real Funk music" like "Pussy" until the early '80s! I did not Funkadelic perform live until the 90's. By then George's voice was shot and they were performing songs light Atomic Dog, and the more popular stuff; not of the "real Funk music". I went to see them again a few years ago and it was a disappointing. They were brought in some young blood and it was good to see the aging icons but the "real Funk music" was missing. They used a rappper... I'm afraid I may never experience, like you, a live performance of the Real Funk music like "Testify", "Pussy", "Icka Prick", "All Your Goodies are Gone", "Can You get to That", etc, etc. I would be happy to see a tight band cover these classics. The closet thing I heard to this type of Funk, and lyrics, perfomed in recent years, was a In Livin' Color's "When Love rears it's ugly head" -- and that song is almost 20 years old... I saw In Livin' Color perform for free in Central Park this Summer -- they were great! I started reading the liner notes of the CD this morning (I found one of those credit card sized magnifying glass old people use in restaurants) and see the reason I had not heard some of the songs is 'cause they were never released and other were only released as 45's. Are you aware of any artists creating new "real Funk" now? http://astore.amazon.com/isbnfind-20/detail/B000001TV7

I got the two disk CD this monring the liner notes (which even I will need an electron microscope to read) look pretty infromative and there were a few nice shout of the group. I immediately burned the disk into iTunes to complete my new PFunk playlist. I think the final list will be about 60 songs. There are not many groups who have 60 songs that I like that much. Which is one reason PF is one of my favorite bands. Many of the songs on this CD were not the original versions used on the LP (or CD versio of the LP). One song (I don't rememeber which) had the whole intro cut out. It was almost as if the song started in the middle -- not good at all. The only reason I could see this being done was for space limitations on the CD itself. Actually as I write this, I just noticed that the music was from the 45s: that explains the truncated versions of some of the songs. If the CD was available via iTunes I would have simply purchased the tracks I did not already own.

Wow Turner that is a lot for a first post here, welcome. I think you are heaping way too much responsibilty onto Tyler Perry. Honestly, the only reason I go saw Perry's last film was so that I could speak about it first hand. So while my reaction might be the same the reasons are very different... Black men are not Tyler's demographic. Sure we are useful for accompanying his real target audience to the theaters -- Black women. Boycott all you want it will not make a difference. Also, Perry will never be the same type of filmmaker that Spike is, comparing the two is not constructive. It is like complaining that Teri Woods does not write books like Toni Morrison. Peace

Chris This is the best compliation of Funnkadelic I've ever seen! This collection contains some of their best stuff - period. There are a couple of cuts, I'm surprised, I never heard before and I like all of them. I have no idea how I missed this compilation before now -- thank YOU. I have many PF albums and CD and I usually only really like a few of the cuts, I like every single song on this 2 CD set I'm gonna create a PF playlist with some of these joints and will blog about it shortly... I'll let you know what I've added that is not already in this compliation -- off the top of my head I can't think of anything other than "Testify", but I'll get back to you. THANKS!

Chris you don’t need your own religion; you can use one of the existing ones like, like Christianity, as some of our more charismatic Brothers have. And seriously, I ain’t hatin’ on Steve either just makin’ an observation. I too would capitalize off giving relationship advice – if I could. For now I’ll be content with earning commission off his book sales

Lili was it your first marriage? How old was your beau and was it his first marriage. I'm sorry to read about your failed marriage.

Bookfan, Everything that happens in this country is about selling you stuff -- especially the news." I'm pretty sure the Dickens' titles were in the publick domain so I'm sure about the vlue add there. You best believe I'll incorporate ebook commissions in the the business model.

" My children and grandchildren would be embarassed. That's why I took my picture down." My children are sufficently embarassed by me in the flesh!

This culture is just so jacked up now. Knowledge about relationships should be so well defined and ingrained that everyone should know the deal by the time they finish puberty. Today we got comedians reinventing the wheel based upon calls from other nuts. Cynique regarding blow jobs: I would have cited Karrine Steffans (God, this the 2nd time I wrote about Karrine in one day) to dispute your friend's claim. I always think of Andrew Dice Clay who would inquire if the wife of some dude in the audience could give good head when they first met. Usually the proud husband would say, "yeah" and Dice Clay would growl, "How do you think she got that way!!!" Some guys want head from whores but not their wives. It all depends on the dude. Frances Cress Welsing said men should not get married before age of 35 and women 30. Of course neither should have children before marriage. I suspect if you ignored all the stuff about about appearence, blow jobs, and anything else a Steve Harvey might mention in his book. This alone would probably be enough to greatly improve the odds of a successful family. It would be interesting to see some data on the success rates of first time marriages of black people who got hitched up after 35/30 age. But I would bet the sample set would be too small to mean anything.

Well I can't argue with you on that point Kola. I simply missed Cynique's statement - sorry Cynique. Maybe I missed it because "four" was spelled out and three was written as an integer -- who knows but I clearly missed it. Yeah, yeah short attention spans. Doing multiple things at one time. I get it, I'm guilty -- shoot me! In fact, the same happens with my own writing. I can write a newsletter re-read it multiple times and miss glaring errors -- that I only catch after the thing has been emailed. People can only consume information in small bytes. We are taught to "webify" our content -- write in short easily digested sentences. Text dense sentences and polysyllabic words are a non-no The world operates on emotion fueled sound bites. Kola get used to it. It will only get worse.

Celebrity is to Americans as The Royal Family is the British. I guess there is something in human nature that creates a tendency in the majority of folks to worship celebrity. And this is probably sufficient to answer my question. I draw a line when we begin to value the advice of folks on subject matters they have clearly demonstrated little success in their own lives. I’m not trying to pick on Steve Harvey personally, because I’m sure he is no worse (or better) than any of us. I just chose him of as one example, of many I could have selected, to illustrate my point. In this month Essence magazine, Steve Harvey was on the cover again. This time the supporting article introduced Steve’s latest book: Straight Talk, No Chaser: How to Find, Keep, and Understand a Man. The promotional copy says, “Steve Harvey proves once again that he is the king of relationships.” I don’t know much about Steve’s personal life; I really only care how funny he is. However I read the Essence article and learned that Steve is one his 3rd marriage and has four children by 3 different women. If being the “King of Relationships” is measured by the sheer number of relationships then I guess the crown is warranted. Personally, if I’m interested in learning how to obtain, develop and maintain a quality relationship I’d be most interested in the advice of someone that has actually accomplished the feat or at least studied the issue in a meaningful manner. Of course I realize a non-celebrity would be incapable of making the NY Times bestsellers list offering advice on the relationships. A Steve Harvey can. Presumably it should make no difference who delivers the message assuming the advice is sound. So I guess I should stop bitching and be glad someone can do the work and help others. Then again, maybe Steve is simply capitalizing off his celebrity and offering poor advice to people worse off than he is; people with fewer financial resources and too fixated on his celebrity to know better. We expect far too much from athletes, actors, and comedians. Whether it is Ronald Regan, Anorld Schweznegger (no I’m not gonna look up the correct spelling) or Al Franken we expect these folks to know a little more than us. Black actors for the most part have to be a rapper or comedian to be cast in a major motion picture; and athletes are expected to be model citizens. And comedians, with multiple failed marriages, are expected to be able to offer sage advice on relationships. We live in a twisted world. Actually if you do read the slimed down version of Essence magazine check out the article on the rapes in Haiti it is a piece of journalism I'm unaccustomed to seeing in Essence

Bookfan I see our brains work simmiliarly. I'll look into to see what the numbers actually mean and if it makes sense to (or even if it is possible to) change the the rankings as you suggest. Initially, I tried to carry over the rankings over from the previous board. Those ranking were based upon the number of posts. However, ABM or Cynique would blow Thumper out of the water in every quantitative measure that I have access to. Cynique your comment especially the last line was cyniquelly on point.

I wonder of Linda ever finished all these book in 90 days.