Cuss Words: The Attraction

Lately, it seems like my language has been slipping. When I was younger I would cuss a lot, it was like some crazy rite of passage. Now that I'm older, I don't cuss that often, unless I'm extremely mad and other words just won't do, but I rarely get that angry. Nevertheless, lately I'm finding that it's getting easier and easier to let little words slip through. Maybe it's my frustations that are bringing them forward, maybe it's some of the music I listen to, maybe it's just me. I don't know, but I kept thinking about it and I wrote this little piece about it. Feel free to share your thoughts on the piece and/or the subject in general.

THE ATTRACTION


Cussing is the shit that lets motherfuckers know what the hell it is you are trying to say.
But why is it that cussing makes me feel like I’m no longer in the mix, but I’m out

Mommi says good Christians don’t talk like that
Could be shawty is right

But does keeping it real make me a different kind of cat?

Every now and then I like to release a word or two as part of my verbal flow,
It offends some
That’s what their faces show

It’s not the standard vernacular of Kings, I heard at the church
Could it be that denouncing it is a way to control me into being more like them?

The words make me feel empowered
But the stares make me feel small
Does he have to talk like that?

Some think it’s trifling

I tried to stop, but I guess the demon got lonely, so he came back
I want to be free to cuss but I feel so bound
Do I need to have hands laid on me and let the Spirit take control?

The more I cuss, the more I want to cuss

It’s like liquor and sex, you can only have what’s been allotted to you or you end up out of control
I feel intoxicated enough to dance on the table
But I guess I’ll sit here and fit in.

Some would say, that’s fucked up.

Ed, Gerald, and BeBe makes three

They say these things happen in three's. Well, we lost another one. This time it was a member of the publishing industry; author Bebe Moore Campbell.

Bebe Moore Campbell, whose many best sellers such as "Brothers and Sisters" touched on America's ethnic and social divides, died Monday. She was 56.

Campbell died at home in Los Angeles from complications due to brain cancer, said publicist Linda Wharton-Boyd. She was diagnosed with the disease in February.

"My wife was a phenomenal woman who did it her way," husband Ellis Gordon Jr. said in a statement. "She loved her family and her career as a writer."

BeBe Moore Campbell dies at 56
BeBe Moore Campbell Website

The Lo Rear End Theory

They are trying...

...but they won't succeed.

Blogger.com, the site that Lo uses to publish her blog up to her main website, has been having major, major, major problems that tonsof users have been encountering, most with very little help from Blogger.com, which is free (and owned by Google, the fucks). They are in the process of switching a lot of people to the beta version, and their servers are acting up left and right.

Lo publishes up to her hosting site using something called FTP transfer, and that's where the problems have been. She spent all last week making futile attempts and hoping against hope that Blogger.com would somehow, miraculously, fix their stupid problem. Disgrunted Blogger users just like her are on blogging forums and message boards seeking a solution for the same problem. All of them have the same issue...this:

And no, it was NOT a problem with Lo's hosting site, Network Solutions.

Anyway, for now, Lo's working on a workaround, I'll keep you posting, but she sends her LOVE!
In the meantime, Lo say's Blogger and Google can kiss her, Lo's, LoZone's, and Lo Filestein's natural black (and Jewish) asses.*

Seriously.

It's So Necessary

Welcome Back From The Holiday!

During the holiday I got a chance to do something I love; watch movies. I don't get to watch much network television because I work a lot during my time away from the corporate plantation, but I definitely try and get my share of theatrical films in via DVD. During this time of leisure I had the pleasure, I'm not sure you really want to call it that, but I watched a film that I couldn't help but tell everyone else about. The film I'm referring to is
"An Inconvenient Truth"
by Al Gore, former United States Vice President.

This is a MUST SEE film, because it affects everyone on the planet, regardless of gender, age, race or political affiliation. If you haven't seen it, I won't tell you what it's about, I will let it speak for itself, check out the trailer and run out and get a copy to watch. It's available for purchase and rental.


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An Inconvenient Truth: Official Website

Thin Line Between Arrogant and Ass

This must be celebrity twilight zone, because a lot of people are doing and saying dumb stuff. First O.J. and that dumb idea for a book and show, then Richard Michaels (Kramer) goes off on two brothers, probably ending his career, and then late last week Kanye Wests decides to say something dumb.

He said and I quote: “If it wasn’t for race mixing, there’d be no video girls. Me and most of my friends like mutts a lot. Yeah, in the hood they call ‘em mutts.”

I don't know who Ye' hangs out with, but he should stop drinking and giving comments. I like his music, but sometimes you have to use some plain old common sense and keep your foot out of your mouth.

New Ways to Give

I'm a giver. I like giving to organizations that help others, but I also don't mind the tax break. If you are a giver too, you will be glad to know that your options for giving are expanding. Mutual fund companies are now offering charitable gift funds. These funds allow you to get the yearly benefit of a tax break while allowing your contributions to grow which could give you the ability to make a major impact on your charity of choice down the road (you can grow the money as long as you like before giving it away). What I also found interesting is that these funds are coming at a time when the gov't is saying you can only get credit for your documented donations. Cash gifts won't allow you to get the benefit of the tax break.

I also like this, because I give a lot of my charitable donations to the instituion called the church and I'm getting a little disheartened with churches that are more interested in being "mega churches" as opposed to helping the people in their congregation and community. So, for me this is well worth looking at, because it gives me a place to park my dollars until I feel compelled to give it to a charity, and the nature of the fund earmarks the money for charity (501c3 organizations) so it can't be used as a mere investment vehicle.

Yahoo News: Rethinking Charitable Giving

Blazing New Trails

I'm an avid fan of business. I like to talk about, read about, be about it. I'm always interested in how people make their money, because it helps to broaden my view and it expands my scope of knowledge. What also amazes me is all the different things you can get into while getting paid in the process. I first became interested in this line of thinking because as I took a look at our community it appeared as if the depth of businesses owned by African Americans was limited to a few community staples. We also seem to stick to the beaten path when it comes to professions. There is nothing wrong with that, but I think it's time we broadened our horizons a bit and started tapping into burgeoning industries that have put a new meaning to doing what you love.

For instance, take teenaged Tom Taylor out of Jupiter Florida who has made more than $450,000 playing video game "Halo 2". Taylor is one of a handful of teens who have made their own fortunes in the $7 billion a year industry in the U.S. You can read about how he's making a killing in the gaming industry by taking the link at the bottom of this post. He also has his own site where he teaches gaming techniques.

Tom played in Major League Gaming's National Championship this past weekend in Vegas and his team placed third to win $30,000 (split 4 ways). Here they are chillin.

The team that did win this weekends championship walked away with $100K. I was glad to find that their team had an African American kid who goes by the name Karma. Here he is with a couple of his teammates.

Reading these kids stories made me realize how much the world of business is evolving. It's changing so that you can literally get paid doing what you love, even if its playing video games. It also helped me to realize that I needed to evolve in my thinking as to what is a viable means of employment as it relates to my kids. Exploring their interests early enough may help them get on the path to wealth creation at a lot earlier age. It also would open them up to more options later in life if they make money doing something they like as a kid. In this manner, they don't have to end up like many people, working a job they hate just to make ends meet.

Yahoo: Young Pro Video Gamers gross six figures
Professional Video Gaming, Not all fun and games

Comedy Time

Friday's are made for laughs. So, check out the comedy stylings of Aries Spears.

*Some language not suitable for the workplace. So adjust accordingly.

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It's Gotta Have Some Weight

One of my girls (blogging buddy Sheletha) made the "comment of the year" when she said (in response to a post) a man's johnson had to have some weight on it to make her happy. Well, she's not alone in that department. It seems Sanaa Lathan feels the same way.



When asked about her flavor du jour, Lathan, who fell in love with and dated a white man for two years during her grad school days at Yale, insists she doesn't have a type. She does have a preference, though. "I don't discriminate, but I tend to gravitate toward Black Men," she admits. "Maybe it's something that they have, like their weight and rhythm, but being with a brother just feels like home to me."

Well, Sanaa, if you are out there, you are always welcome at The Rich House. I've never dated a white woman, not that I didn't have the chance, but something about the sisters just felt right. So, I know what you mean about feeling like you are at home.

So tell me people, what is it about the opposite sex that you really like? What moves you?

Sons of Soul

This group I’m about to bring on hails from Oakland , CA . I like them because they were able to do what these artists today have been unable to do, make timeless music. I’ve liked them since they hit the scene back in 1988 with the hit “Little Walter”. By now you must know I’m referring to the group, Tony Toni Tone which is comprised of brothers Dwayne and Raphael (Saadiq) Wiggins and cousin Timothy Christian.

Their music has managed to create some lasting memories for me, and hearing them is like seeing an old friend. So, let’s give a warm Rich House welcome to Tony, Toni, Tone’.

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This next song is all about letting her know that you are the man!

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Put this on and just watch the ice break!

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If you are wondering what happened to him, here is a little something to bring you up to date.

In 2003, most members of Tony! Toni! Toné! except for Saadiq were invited by Alicia Keys to guest on her album The Diary of Alicia Keys. The song that resulted from that session was called "Diary", and when it was released as a single in the fall of 2004, it gave them their first Top 10 US hit in eleven years. In 2005, Dwayne Wiggins became the band leader for the Weekends at the D.L. television show hosted by comedian D. L. Hughley, which airs on the Comedy Central cable network.

In 2006, the group reunited for the 'New Jack Reunion Tour'.

Power Play

Maybe this new invention will help make my dream home more affordable over the long run.


Down in Bernard Malin's basement is a softly thrumming metal box that turns natural gas into hot water and generates $600 to $800 worth of electricity a year - a bonus byproduct of heating his home.

"It's like printing money," says Mr. Malin, the first person in Massachusetts - perhaps in the nation - to own a residential "micro combined-heat-and-power" system, also known as micro-CHP.

But he's not likely to be the last.

Since Malin changed his home heating system to micro-CHP in February, 18 other families in the Boston area also have adopted the technology, which squeezes about 90 percent of the useful energy from the fuel. That's triple the efficiency of power delivered over the grid.


Europe and Japan are already ahead of us on this technology, and of course some of the greedy American utility companies see this as a threat. Let's just hope they do what's best for the environment and eventually the price will drop and these will be more accessible. At $13k to $20K only the well to do will be able to afford these right now.

Yahoo news article: The future of home energy
Microchp Technology

Riding Music

I love this song. It inspires me to....

Keep Driving!

I found a video with some cool animation. Check it out.

[click "play" (the arrow button) to watch]

The Weary Traveler

Being good at so many things seems to be a curse when you haven't accomplished much.
That bright future continues to evade like the destination on an unfamiliar road.
Making it hard to enjoy the scenery due to the haste in wanting to arrive at the planned destination.

When will I get there?
Did I miss a turn?
This ride is taking a lot longer than I expected

I bet everyone else will already be there when I arrive. I wonder if I've missed anything good.

Maybe I'll see a sign over the next horizon.

No such luck!

This navigation system said I should be there by now, it must be broke.

Can't ask for directions, everyone's hurrying to their own destinations.

Oh wait, there's a sign up ahead!

50 more miles!

You got to be kidding me.

Take a deep breath

Exhale

Give it some gas

and

Keep Driving

The Rebirth of Donnie

Some artists leave such an impression on you that you figure there will never be another voice comparable to theirs. Well, when a dear friend of mine sent me this brothers site, I was blown away at the fact that he sounded an awful lot like the late Donny Hathaway. If you are familiar with Donny's music, I'm sure you will feel the same. Check out a guy who will soon be known to all, not because he sounds like Donny, but because he is a great talent.
Show some love for Mr. Frank McComb.

He's covering a Stevie Wonder piece in this clip, but you can still hear the resemblance to Donny in the voice

[click "play" (the arrow button) to watch]

Watch him bang some keys in this next clip (you will only get a small sampling of vocals)

Check him out even more at his website www.frankmccomb.info where he gives you a great sampling of his vocal stylings.

Frank McComb CD Information
Frank McComb Online

Enjoy the Day!

With all the election news out there, it's hard finding something to post, so in times like these, music will certainly do. Also, since my candidates won (finally!) I figured a little celebration was in order.

This group I'm about to bring on is arguably one of the best R&B groups to ever hit the scene. I was 8 yrs old (1975) when I first heard this groups music. My uncle was playing one of their 8-tracks (remember those!) and not only was the music catching my attention, but so was the design on their album cover (this was also around the time I realized I could draw). Anyway, this group has managed to stand the test of time and I have never NOT been in the mood to listen to something by them. There music is what you call, timeless. So let's do it Rich House style as I give you all, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.

"You"

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"Happy Feelings"

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It just wouldn't be right to listen to Maze without some
"Joy and Pain"

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Maze: The official Website

Remembering your first time!!

Your first time! Ummm! Do you remember it? Have you had it yet? I sure remember mine! It was quite some time ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember acting like I was "the man", because it was important for me to approach the event like I knew what I was doing. I walked in confident, maintained my cool, double checked that it was a private moment, and I never let on that I was a bit nervous. All the while, I was trying to remember everything I heard and learned because I knew once I committed, there was no turning back. Once I got in and made a couple moves, the fear began to subside and then it was all down hill, I glided right through the process.

You may be wondering why I'm sharing this. Thinking, he could have kept that to himself. Well, I decided to share this after reading a local newspaper article and found out that a few celebrities have been sharing their first time as well. I found their interview on the web and I really enjoyed it, the way they described it made me feel like I was right in the room with them. It was so good, that I just had to put the video here for all of you to check out. I know it's nothing like doing it yourself, but believe me, you don't want to miss what they had to say about it!

[click "play" (the arrow button) to watch]

I know what ya'll were thinking, but now that you got it straight (not to mention, your minds out the gutter), everybody needs to go out and do it tomorrow! Don't be shy and don't make excuses. Do what you need to do to be a part of the process. Don't be overly concerned about all the foul events that happened in the past. Let's go out there and make it happen, even if it turns out that tomorrow is your first time. No matter what, just make sure you go and vote!

Remember your first time: Women's Voices. Women Vote

Friday Feature

Since The Rich House featured Denzel's book this week, I figured I'd hit you with this stand-up piece by comedian Reggie Reg. It's a great impression of Denzel, but if you are listening at work, watch the volume, you know how some of the comedic language can be.


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Reggie Reg: NPR Interview
Reggie Reg: More Info

Special Edition: For The Cool In You

This goes out to two people. One's a friend I haven't seen in years but it seems like we see each other quite often. I love me some you! The other is someone who I've had the pleasure of knowing only from a distance, but who has managed to make quite a positive impression on me. Both of you should know who you are from the selection below. Enjoy the grooves!

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Excellent Use For Technology

I stumbled upon this and figured I had to share it with the rest of you. It will speak for itself, but I must say, it's an excellent idea.

Video The Vote

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Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!

Become a Photojournalist: videothevote.org