random notes

there are people so unhappy about president elect obama that they are challenging his citizenship (to be president you have to be a natural born citizen). they are saying his hawaii birth certificate should be presented for inspection (by who, i have no idea). well that concept might have had more credence if john mccain wasnt born in the panama canal zone. 

im listening to stephanie miller here in cali and someone just called in and had a brilliant idea. she said that the gas companies that have been making record profits should bailout the auto industry. they wouldn’t miss the money.

gotta go troubleshoot a printer i keep here. i have some great friends that let me leave a few things in their garages so i can work when im out here.

My best friend from Cali is here for a few days. He is a big Tupac fan. So much so, he got off the plane with a Tupac Machiavelli jacket on.

The last time he was here the Tupac Arts Center was closed. I called the center on Monday and asked if they would be open on Tues (yesterday). I was told yes and I confirmed the hours of operation.

We got there around 2 in the afternoon and this is what we saw.

i have been watching the financial shows talk about the implosion of the markets. and the big 3 car manufacturers coming to DC to ask for bailout money on their private planes (they couldn’t just share one?).  some of the dunderheads on these shows are trying to act like this isn’t as serious as it really is.  one said the big 3 car companies did nothing wrong.  tell that to americans who have lost their jobs because plants in the midwest have been shutting down leaving folks high and dry. 

my old arch nemesis citibank is poised to possibly be sold off in pieces or whole. financial strategists say they deserve to be saved (from their own mismanagement) because they are too large to fail.  perhaps, but they do need grown up oversight since the free market system of deregulation (run amok in the past 8 years in particular) is about to collapse. 

neil young has written an article on how to save the car industry.  president elect obama posted a youtube video today talking about his plans to create new jobs for americans to rebuild our infastructure.  i wonder why the current administration didn’t want to rebuild roads and bridges.  i understand they don’t like the idea of investing in  green technology or federally sponsored stem cell research (which is why they needed to go) but why not make bridges safe around the country and give jobs to folks around the country that cant be shipped overseas?

just some saturday musings.

i just read an article (well picture essay) of former professional player Warrick Dunn donating homes to single mothers. What is especially touching is seeing these kids have a safe space they can call their own. It doesn’t have to be large but just their own. Its nice to see someone considered a celebrity do something to strengthen family and kids.

in this picture are grammy award winning vocalist lisa fischer, bassist warren mccrae and soon to be famous vocalist robert jamison. this was taken in the hotel lobby after warren and lisa finished their performance for the night in concert with tina turner.

i could make it seem like robert and i saw the show. we didn’t. we had been writing earlier in the day and we stopped by the hotel to say hello.

actually, i saw tina twice on the last tour and i am happy with the memories. i just wanted robert who is a singer i am working with here in atl to meet some of my friends who can encourage and inspire him as he establishes himself as an artist. and i have to admit, lisa and warren are great folks who i am so very proud to know and i beam with pride at all of their accomplishments.

i know its been a few days since obama won the election and like many i had to take moment to take in the enormity of the moment. like some others i stayed home and watched the results on many different channels (including comedy central and cnn among others). but after the western states came in along with ohio and pennsylvania i switched over to fox news. i admit i had a moment of freudenschade. i just didn’t want to help myself. after all the venom they have spewed over the years it was a moment i will not soon forget watching them quietly absorb the fact that there was a democrat in the white house. a black male democrat.

but as things move forward, some folks drag themselves into the 21st century. as this video shows, there is still more work to be done.

well here we are. its been a long ride to get here but americans are voting. i am very curious to see if the folks out here have to stand in line as long as those of us who voted early. there is one special lady in texas who voted via mail whose daddy was a former slave. if you have a moment here is a link to her story. its a reminder as to why its important to use the power we have as citizens to affect change.

i was trying to work on a musical idea from a completely blank slate. i have some ideas bouncing around but nothing i particularly like. so i took a little break and was looking at stuff online. first i saw that woman john mccain took the microphone from. the one who said obama is an arab and mccain corrected her

and said he was a “decent family man he has fundamental differences of opinion with.”  wait a minute. i know colin powell pointed it out but it bears repeating that being arab has no bearing on if you are a decent person. 

then i went to watch some footage of the craziness going on in the minnesota races with michelle baccman (i know i just butchered her name but you know who i mean). she backed away from her mccarthy like accusations of her fellow congress members being un-american. but her opponent was having none of it.

enough of all that!! so i go over to urbannetwork.com and see what they are up to over there. lo and behold rapper T.I. votes.  i don’t know how a convicted felon who hasn’t served his upcoming sentenced time got to vote but more power to him for exercising his right.  but the quote at the end of the article is what got me:

“ Dr. Benjamin Chavis,
President/CEO of HSAN. “T.I. has emerged as an effective national
leader, inspiring millions of young people to vote in the 2008
elections. ”
“T.I. is an inspiration to us all, showing that you can overcome
anything,” concluded Reverend Yearwood. “He has become our Harry
Belafonte of the 21st Century.”"

BEN CHAVIS said that?!  wtf?!  just because someone is popular and makes a lot of money doesn’t mean they are an inspiration*. or a national leader. when T.I. learns how to act, takes political stands on issues that may or may not be popular but are correct for humanity, comes up with some rhymes that are about something meaningful AND takes under his wing a young singer from a country divided like south africa was during the apartheid era (the singer being marian makeba btw) then maybe, there can be a comparison.  in the meantime, mr. chavis, take your anti-star struck medication and step away from the comparisons. 

let me go back to my little drum beat and bass line. 

* Fannie Lou Hamer is someone i feel is an inspiration

i waited for a couple of hours at a polling place for the opportunity to do some things my ancestors could only dream about. one was voting. two was voting for a black man for president. if nothing else, that made it worthwhile for myself and the continuous stream of black folks i saw in line waiting to vote for the past couple of weeks.

last night i was in nyc for the premiere of soul men at the apollo. it was a lot of fun. mrs mac (bernie’s widow) was emotionally moved.