Friday, December 24, 2010

Atlanta Symphony and Chorus - And The Glory Of The Lord

NORAD Santa Tracker - Christmas Eve Santa Tracking

This year, 2010, once again this blogger is following (kinda) the Santa Tracker, but while tree trimming, wine drinking, and talking, and listening to Nat and Frank (Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra).

 But here's my NORAD Santa Tracker Video, because I just had to!



This business of going to the NORAD website to track Santa Claus' trip around the World is rather cool, but I'm in the middle of watching It's A Wonderful Life, so I decided to embed the tracker right here in my blog:



As of 6 PM PST / 9 PM EST, Santa Claus is , well, he's moving really fast! (If the embed doesn't work in your browser, click on the NORAD link.)

Merry Christmas!

Santa Baby 99ers Christmas Unemployment Song

Presenting the Santa Baby 99ers Christmas Unemployment Song, or The Santa Baby 99ers Song, on Christmas Eve.

Donalee King (in photo from Zennie62.com), who goes by Paladinette, at Zennie62.com, created this variation of the classic Christmas Song Santa Baby.

King, a blogger who also has her own blog called Jobless Unite,  is one of the so-called "99ers," those who's unemployment benefits have ran out after the 99-week limit, and seek an extension of benefits, or better yet, a job.

In seeking both, the San Diego resident has become a tireless advocate for the jobless. Her work on this song landed her notice by the LA Times.

The video is below, followed by the lyrics, which are graphic but worth reading and singing...if you dare!

(In fact, if you're in Oakland, California, print out the lyrics, take them down to The Alley at 3325 Grand Avenue, present them to Rod Dibble at the piano, and ask he would accompany you in song. Santa Baby is a song he knows how to play.)




Lyrics to video song Santa Baby - 99ers Style 2010

Congress Baby, the 99ers need a tier 5......to survive
I know you’re HEARTLESS P@#*s But....so what?
My children need some dinner tonight!

The car got repo’d and the rent is awfully late...but wait
You only care for the rich that’s a B*@#H
there’s millions of us dying out here

We can’t afford a Christmas tree
While you’re all buying Cartier at Tiffany
You bailed out banks Greece and Haiti too
I think it’s time the 99ers heard from you

Obama baby, just help the 99ers please
and... don’t tease
Been a really tough year
Out here
I Hope Your change is comin’ tonight

Obama honey, you sold 99ers flat out
no doubt
and now it’s snowing out,
My stomach’s growling
I need some food and shelter tonight

Sherrod honey, Schumer and that Stabenow too
Were through we all trusted you
but senate baby your lies have left us hurtn’ out here

We’re not rich - guess we don’t count
The dirty little secret you won’t talk about
There’ll be no jobs again next Year
It’s time you kicked your senate’s butts into high gear

Congress baby just pretend to care for us poor
once more - come on it’s just a check - so what the heck?
there’s millions of us dying out here!

That’s right I’d rather work than fight
Hurry Congress there’s 99ers dying TONIGHT

Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Festivus 2010: No Mediaite Festivus? What Gives?

Festivus, that annual celebration for the rest of us, is upon us, once again. But in 2010 Festivus just don't feel like, well, Festivus.

The idea was first introduced in Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld's long-running television comedy, as an alternative to what some perceive as the commericialization of Christmas.

But this time, Festivus doesn't feel like Festivus, and maybe that's because the idea was started by a long-cancelled TV show, rather than a religious event?

At any rate, I know Festivus isn't as huge this year, because Mediaite's not mentioning it at all. Last year, the online media watchdog publication had a Mediaite Festivus of the top 50 media influencers in 2009, and that I talked about in my vlog here:



This year, zip.  Nada.

And while Festivus is a Google Trend, some of the blogs and articles don't seem to be focused on it in the title heading.  Festivus is more the day that, say, an NFL football game is being played.

I think AOL's David Knowles got it right when he observed that Festivus lived on, although Seinfeld reruns were "dated."  I think Festivus is headed in the same direction.  But there's still Christmas, and always will be.

Now, for this blogger, Christmas is about giving, not necessarily buying. It's also a celebration of the time of Christ's birth.

That's forgotten.

An aside.

For some reason there are people who just want to be mean. They want to be mean 24 and 7, and so they hate Christmas. Can't stand it. Those people are sad sacks. There's nothing wrong with being nice to people and giving to them in honor of the birth of Christ, and because it's just a plain nice thing to do.

As I said to someone who explained the common rationale for not celebrating Christmas, in other words, it's commericialized, "Christmas is something you do with society. Why does it have to be about you?"

Don't be selfish. Get into the sprit. Give of yourself.

Happy Festivus and Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Cam Newton for The Heisman Trophy

Suburban Atlanta - This blog post is complicated because the motivation for writing it was because, first, of my good friend Oakland Tribune Sports Columnist Monte Poole's passive agressive Heisman Trophy take. Second, my current proximity to Cam Newton's College Park residence, just outside Atlanta, Georgia.  Third, seeing Newton and Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck (who Poole picked for the Heisman) play, and finally Southern Culture and the fact that I can't sleep.  Blogging should knock me out.

Cam Newton is quite simply the best quarterback talent I've ever seen and should be the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner.

The main difference between Newton and Luck, is that for all of his accomplishments, Luck is a product of an offensive system formed by Cardinal Offensive Coordinator David Shaw, who gets little credit for his work. Cam's success has little to do with a particular offensive scheme, but his god-like talent. Consider this is Newton's first year in Auburn's system, and his third system in three years, where Luck has played in the same system for the three year span.

We've seen Cam do things, like score six touchdowns in the SEC Championship, that even the most rabid college football fans only dream of.  And all in his first year in a new system with new players and at a new school.  That's wild.

Cam's only problem is he's in an area of the country known for scams. To one from the San Francisco Bay Area (I go back and forth to help my Mom, who's here) it seems an inordinate number of people have their hands out, selling this or that. Robocalls are rampant. Newton's only hell has been growing up black, male, and physically gifted in football-crazed, dollar-sign-driven Georgia.

Frankly, I find the young man impressive. He handled himself extremely well when being questioned by CBS Sideline Reporter Tracy Wolfson.  He never broke his winning smile, and came off quite charming.  He certainly passed the Mom test, as mine was sold on his presentation at the SEC Championship.

What Cam knew or did not know, does not matter. Spend a little time down here and you don't have to be a genius to know that someone made Cam the focus of their sell / scam efforts. That's not Cam Newton's fault, yet it's being held against him.

Look, let's be honest with each other.  What we're tired of is yet another example of the African American male student who's great on the sports field, but has questions about his character off of it.  The Reggie Bush Heisman give-back has left a bad taste in the mouths of many.   But Cam Newton is not Reggie Bush.   Cam's not the smart, militant, chip-on-shoulder guy that Mr. Bush can be at times.  Cam Newton is an innocent kid with King Kong talent.   And like Kong, Newton can't help how society responds to him.

The question is, did Cam do well on and off the field this year in Auburn?  Yes.  He did.  And what Newton did on the field was jaw-dropping amazing.

Cam Newton for The Heisman.  

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bank Of America, Fayetteville GA Service Issue - Big Problem!!



As this blogger wrote over at Zennie62.com, the Bank of America in Fayetteville, Georgia, and more specifically one teller who for some reason didn't want me to be helped or was too much of something, did not allow me to deposit, not cash, a check that had my name and my company name on it, with my address. They said I needed a business account! That's nuts, and wrong.

The Bank of America branch, according to Bank of America's own on-the-phone customer service representatives, wasn't suppose to do that. They were suppose to deposit my check.

To show this problem and what B of A's own phone people said, I created the video above. Was it racism? I don't know. The same problem happens to different people. But given that the bank seems to think it's "discretionary," how do I know it's not race-related, even when the business is black-on-black?

The bottom line is the Bank of America's own customer service representatives said they should have deposited the check in my account.

Bank of America must stop this bad service from its branches, and tellers who act like they run the bank, with the managers there for window-dressing.

Suppose I needed that money because I had to make an emergency trip for my mother and was without cash? What then?

The B of A people were not helpful, when they could have been. There's no excuse for that.

None.

The full post is here at Zennie62.com.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Megan Avalon at Zennie62


Megan Avalon at Zennie62
Originally uploaded by zennie62
This is the Zennie62.com T-Shirt as modeled by Professional Bodybuilder and Trainer Megan Avalon. For news, pop-culture, politics, sports, and tech, visit Zennie62.com

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Happy Rosh Hashanah : President Obama's Wish, Stephen Hawking's Error

President Obama is joined by this blogger in wishing you a Happy Rosh Hashanah. Here's Obama's video from yesterday:



Prof. Stephen Hawking

Come to think of it, since Stephen Hawking elected to introduce his book The Grand Design and declare that God did not create the Universe, it's fair to say that for him, Rosh Hashanah's not good, eh?

You'd think Hawking would show some respect for Jews by not releasing his book just a day before Rosh Hashanah, right? Talk about flunking his performance review. Geesh.

This blogger still can't understand why Stephen Hawking would write a book trying to debunk the existence of God, but not The Devil. Makes you wonder if his book itself's the Work of The Devil.

From this vantage point, Stephen Hawking looks just like the religious zealots he and his fans rightly criticize. Two sides of the same coin.

I prefer the edge. It rolls, if you know what I mean.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Restoring Honor: The I Have A Dream Speech Anniversary

We can't allow crackpot talk show hosts to glen or for that matter to beck America into forgetting that Saturday, August 28th was the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech. This blog post is a small action of "Restoring Honor" to that day in 1963.

The ten minute speech was given on Saturday, August 28th 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC; the event drew over 200,000 people. The address is ranked as the top speech in history.

What is forgotten in all of the silliness of yesterday's faked emotionalism, aside from the fact that Dr. King's greatest moment was nearly glen becked by the media, was the actual speech of 1963 came at a time in this blogger's life (I was born in 1962) when white America's view toward blacks in America was largely screwed up.

(It's not accurate to say "America's view" because it implies either that blacks were also treating other blacks the same way, which wasn't the case, and that blacks and other minorities had the same levels of freedoms that whites in America enjoyed in 1963; not so.  Truth, painful as it is to deal with, is the truth. Skin color was the issue.  You could claim to be a black conservative at the time, and that would not save you from racism.)

Blacks and whites could not marry and even something as simple as going to the bathroom was segregated by race. Many of the freedoms younger African Americans are used now to weren't even allowed then. And beatings and lynchings of blacks, particularly in the South, were all too common.

It's always said that one must know history, if only to avoid repeating it. That's what "Restoring Honor" really means.

For those of you who have not seen the I Have A Dream Speech, the video of it is below, followed by the text of what Dr. King actually said.



Here's the text of the speech from MLKOnline.net:


I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Walking and Talking With Mom On A Georgia Summer Evening



Regular readers of this space know this blogger travels to Atlanta, Georgia to help Mom and just keep her company almost every month. My mother lost her husband and my stepfather in 2005 and to prostate cancer. (In fact, my Mom had breast cancer, and my father and stepfather passed away from prostate cancer in 2005, so that was a hard year.) Fortunately between good friends nearby and my aunts and uncles just four hours by drive in Tennessee, and then me, she's not without company.

Even though it's hard on me as an only child, and I'll explain why later in this post, I do enjoy my company with my Mother and for several reasons. First, she knows who I am as a person. Second, I don't know how much life I have to share with her, she's a breast cancer survivor, so things she may said or done that have bothered me in the past, don't impact me anymore. Third, she's my only family member. And finally, my stress goes away when I'm here. We're out in the country where you need a good car to get to, and the wide open space (which is evident in the video) is incredible.

I find Oakland to be a stressful place to live. If it's not the noise and the constant sirens, it's the fact that at times it seems people are everywhere and you can't escape them. Then there's the occasionally neurotic person who's screwed up for some reason. Then there's the city's constant need for money such that it tries to get it from high parking rates and fees for this and that. And finally it's the large number of people who seem unhappy because they're out of work or for some other reason.

Now, all of that's offset by the fact that I know a lot of people and I am very much part of the fabric of the Oakland community. I have a good set of Godparents in Oakland, and friends I love very much. Plus, there are a lot of small "life fabric" improvements to celebrate in Oakland. But the overall mood of the city has been more negative than positive for most of the time I've lived in it. Oaklanders always talk about potential; I'm tired of hearing about that. After a while that gets to be a bit much.

So all of that brings me here to Georgia. Yes, Mom would love it if I has a family with kids, and that will happen one day. But my priority is to make sure my Mom's doing fine.

That's what my friends - some of them - don't seem to get. I'm an only child - no brothers or sisters to help out with Mom. My mindset is different such that I have to make my schedule with my Mother in mind. Thankfully my work makes that possible.

But all of that's mostly my guilt, which I've learned is common in only children to have. Whatever the reason, I've never felt better about me than over these last few years of my life. And that's because I'm right with my Mom.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

CNN Gives Home To Racists - Turn To MSNBC or FOX News

As pointed out over at The Daily Kos, CNN gave airtime to Mark Williams, a person who was kicked out of the Tea Party Movement for an awful and awfully racist blog post and set of communications involving blacks and the NACCP earlier this year.

In this case, CNN, for some reason, asked Williams to come on and give his take on Park51, so he said this to CNN's Jeff Simon (who's also at fault for having this person on):


In an interview with CNN's Jeff Simon, [former Tea Party Express spokesman Mark] Williams said he's on a new mission when it comes to the Cordoba House -- he told Simon he will "personally commit myself to coming up with funding" for what he called a "mirror image" of Cordoba built in Mecca "that would be dedicated to showcasing American values."

"How about we reinforce the peaceful, moderate nature that Islam claims to be and how about we have an Uncle Sam center to introduce people to the understanding of human rights?" Williams told CNN.

The right to build such a building would be all it takes for Williams to "drop his opposition to Park51," he told the network.


Now, I echo Barbara Morrill of Daily Kos here. Who gives a big rats butt what Williams thinks?

 CNN's giving air time to people others view as racists, like Mark Williams and Erick Erickson, and is why I've been driven to turn the TV channel to MSNBC or FOX Business.

Yeah, it's to the point where FOX News is more tolerable than some of CNN's shows. And what's more disturbing is I like the people at CNN a lot. But I can't watch this train wreck unfold in slow motion.

CNN President John Klein needs to knock this crap off before he wrecks Ted Turner's baby.  This is costing CNN ratings points and money.  No one wants to see this, and given CNN's performance, one has to ask what the hell Klein's up to?

The answer for CNN is to expand the CNN iReport - a lot. This has been said again and again in this space. John Klein needs to wake up.  Fast.  Before he finds himself out of a job.

I'm just saying.

People talk.