The Flavor of Love Update

Alright who watched Flavor of Love Sunday night? Yeah I have still been following it, because it is my bufoonery entertainment on Sunday nights. After the hype up of the clip where they showed New York bum rushin' Pumpkin at the elimination ceremony, I had to tune in and see the drama unfold. So there are only 3 girls left on Flavor of Love and he decided to meet their parents. So here are my thoughts on the girls and their dates with Flav and their mothers:

Pumpkin
I think Pumpkin' is only out to make a name for herself by being on as many TV reality shows as possible. Damn, the girl has been on like 4 or 5 already, which she wasn't up front with Flav about so she got da BOOT and went out with dramatic flair, which I'll get to later. Pumpkin looks just like her mother, only younger. When her mother saw Flav, I know she was like what the hell is my daughter doing? And when Flav had his crusty assed feet out, having them sanded off during a pedicure I thought I was gonna throw up! I already don't really like feet, so looking at those nasty beat up feet didn't help! He could turn someone with a foot fetish off from feet altogether.

Pumpkin herself is whack tho. I don't really like her and didn't think she would be picked anyway, unless he was trying to fulfill his Bridgette Nielsen fantasy over again. She killed me in that episode where she had her Bo Derrick braids in. She is nobody's Bo Derrick nor anybodies "10"(if you get the pun). But what she did at elimination was foul and she didn't get what she REALLY deserved, which was a real ass whippin'. The other disgusting thing was when Flav was mad at her for not telling him about all the TV shows she's been on and he was telling her to get off him because "I need to go drop my kids off at the pool". EEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW, TMI infinity!

Hoopz
I like her the most out of the 3, because she's the least crazy and phony. I don't think her intentions are pure, because why would someone as pretty and young as her get involved with Flav's old, crusty ass? He revealed he's 46, I was like dayum, and he is actin' like this! He continues to take bufoonery to a new level, especially when he came down the stairs in that outfit for the date with Hoopz and her mother, all I have to say is A MESS! So on the date they went to some medieval times type of event and he's flirting with Hoopz mother and she's flirting back! To make it worse Hoopz said that her mother has taken interest and dated someone Hoopz dated in the past. And you wonder why our kids have no morals, it's 'cuz some of the parents don't have any! Actin' like a teenager when they're not. I had to laugh tho, when New York made the art analogy to Hoopz mother, 'cuz it was so true. When they first showed her mother (from afar), I was like wow, she looks young and hot, then they showed her close up and it was like ooooohhhhhh hell to the naw, she was haggard close up. She had the audacity to say that she would date Flav if he didn't pick Hoopz....what!? But then again, they are probably about the same age.........

New York
Now I know why she is the way she is. Dayum, her mother is RAW and she let Flav have it from jump. She was letting her daughter have it too, which I thought was foul. She told New York str8 up, "honey you're fat!" Now watch her end up with an eating disorder, way to go mom! The father was mousy and you can tell the mother runs shit up in there. So New York gets on my nerves, 'cuz she is soooooo dramatic and messy. Every episode I think, "this woman can't be serious!", especially when she was talking about how delicious Flav is. I think she meant more like crunchy, crispy, ummmmm.........burnt, something along those lines would be more accurate.
But when her and Pumkin started to argue, I was sittin' on the edge of my seat to get a good view of that battle unfold. It was sooooo foul for Pumkin to spit in her face like that, and New York should have beat her ass all the way out the door and then some. But I have to say it was funny as hell when she pushed Pumkin so hard that she crashed head first into the camera. I was rollin'!

Well there is only one episode left, so it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds. I want Hoopz to win, though I have a feeling that he is gonna pick New York. For you Flavor of Love fans, who do you think is gonna win? Why?

A Champion In More Ways Than One

Americas true colors have been put on blast on an international stage, with a media fueled feud between two American competitors, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick. I have to admit that I am angry as hell at the bad rap Shani Davis is getting from the press and from narrow minded, ignorant, racist Americans who are trying to steal the glory and the major achievement attained by Shani Davis. Davis will always be known for being the first Black to ever win a gold medal in an individual event in the winter Olympics. This achievement will long outlast the controversy and the attempts to assassinate Davis's character by racist bigots.

I had never heard of Shani Davis until Sunday evening when I was watching the news and I began catching wind of his major accomplishment and then the controversy surrounding his decision not to participate in the team pursuit. Most of the animosity for Davis' decision to not participate in the team pursuit seemed to come from Chad Hedrick who went complaining to the media that Davis isn't a team player because he chose to compete only in individual events and refused to participate in the team pursuit. The media played the discord between these two up and the media frenzy began and along with that frenzy came the racists, the bigots and the haters.

There are a few things that upset me about how Davis's accomplishments have been handled. First, this controversy seems to have overshadowed the real accomplishment of Davis being the first Black to win gold in an individual competition AND the simple fact that an AMERICAN won an event for AMERICA. Though some White people may not see this as a big deal, Blacks won't allow racism and small mindedness to diminish this achievement in our eyes.

Second, it seems that the American coaches should have handled this situation better and not allowed the tension between two American's in the same events to be put on public display like that. From what I've seen, Hedrick was the one who spewed the most animosity throughout this controversy and he should have handled himself more professionally.

Third, this controversy provided yet another example of the racial tensions that still exist in our country. If you take a visit to Shani Davis's website (if you can get on it, because it is sometimes too busy to access), you'll see hate messages toward Shani, name calling and even folks who hoped that he would fall or have some kind of mishap during his 1500 meter competition, because God forbid he beat out a White man in a sport that up until now, as far as Americans go, was dominated by Whites in the Olympics. There are folks on his website saying how unamerican Davis is and how selfish he is to not help out the "team" and saying how he didn't look grateful to win the gold medal, bla, bla, bla. My thought is "so what he doesn't want to compete in a team competition, he's still competing for America" (AKA: Amerikkka, depending on how you view this country).

For me, Davis is a true champion, because a man's success goes beyond what he does as a profession, whether he be a sports figure, a politician or a garbage man. To me it's about what you give back to society and living your life with humility and integrity. From what I have read and seen, Davis exemplifies this. He has a passion for youth development and spends a lot of time talking at highschools, and helping kids to identify and reach their potential. To me this is a true champion. It burned me a little to see how much credit was given to that one American Gold Medalist who donated the money he won to charity, but yet similar credit has not been given to Davis for the amount of ongoing work he has done with young people long before this Olympic competition started and I'm sure his work will last long beyond this Olympic competition in Torino. If the best that haters can do is pick him apart for simply not wanting to participate in a team pursuit, then to hell with them, because what Davis has to offer goes well beyond an Olympic competition.

Last night after NBC showed the 1500 meter race, they showed a small clip of the post-race press conference where Davis and Hedrick spoke. They were seated at the opposite ends of the table and didn't really look at each other while the clip played. At one point they were asked if they had any last words and Davis spoke up and said something to the effect of how he wished that Hedrick would have congratulated him on winning the gold in the 1000 meter, like Davis did to Hedrick when Hedrick beat him out for the 5000 meter. Hedrick obviously felt put on the spot and after several awkward seconds with him drinking water profusely, like he hadn't drank any in days, then standing up awkwardly, drinking more water, then he finally sat back down and stumbled out a few words. You could tell he was nervous as hell as he repeated the same tired defense of still being upset with Davis for not participating in the team pursuit and how Davis wouldn't talk with him about this decision. What I really think is that Hedrick is still pissed that one, his ego was bruised because he at best will only be able to walk away with 2 gold medals, instead of the 5 that people hyped him up to be the contender for; two, that Davis beat him in two of the events Hedrick was favored to win; and three that he got beat out by a Black man in a sport that HAD been dominated by Whites.

I have to admit I was happy when Davis beat Hedrick out to take the silver in the 1500 meter. It's sad that racism continues to be an issue in America, especially when we have achieved a great milestone in history. I really doubt that if a White teammate would have opted out of participating in the team pursuit event that he would have been put on blast like Davis was and have his individual accomplishments demeaned and picked apart like Davis has had to endure. But Davis has had to deal with adversity all his life, being a young Black man growing up in Chicago who had a passion for speedskating, a predominately White sport. As a result he has learned how to deal with criticism and ostracism all his life. To me Shani Davis is a hero in more ways than one, and many can learn lessons from him, because he has chosen to take the road less traveled and in my book that gets much respect, even more so than winning a gold and silver medal!

Are You For Real?

How the hell can you be the victim of buckshot, even if accidental, get out of the hospital, mind you, after suffering a mild heart attack as a direct result of being impaled by buckshot and apologize to the person who landed you in this situation? Well if your name is Harry Whittington you have no problem doing so.

I couldn't believe the video footage I was watching today as Whittington all bruised up, with a black and blue face, kissed Dick Cheney's ass on national TV. He apologized for what Dick Cheney has had to go through the past week while he was in the hospital full of buckshot. Maybe he won't feel so sorry for Cheney when he has to explain his situation everytime the metal detector goes off when he's traveling at the airport or if more shrapnel travels into his heart or other vital body organs. Oh, but wait, he's a wealthy, old White guy, so he probably has his own airplane. Maybe the government gave him enough money as a result of this accident for him to buy his own plane if he doesn't already have one. But the more likely scenario is that he got something worth more than a simple monitary pay off, I think it would be more likely he got something like shares of stock in some billion dollar company. He's a lawyer, so maybe he was promised some kind of powerful political position in the state of Texas or beyond. Ok, my imagination is going wild now, maybe he didn't receive anything, but why else would he kiss Cheney's ass on TV?

Sorry, but if it were me, I'd be pretty pissed off, even if it was an accident and even if we were friends, which is how Whittington played it up for the public. He basically said, shit happens and you have to understand the sport of hunting to know what I'm talking about. Well I have never been hunting and have never even touched a real gun/rifle, but I know when something sounds sketchy and this sounds well, SKETCHY! Whittington is no doubt a part of an "Old Boys Club", just like Cheney is, so he's just honoring a code of the club and not hanging Cheney out to dry because he's the Vice President of these here United States. Another shady part to how this event unfolded was the inconsistency in the initial reporting. At first, Whittington took all the blame for the accident when the ranch owner, Kathy Armstrong who was apparently also a witness, said that Whittington didn't follow Quail hunting protocol by informing Cheney he was close by. Later, when Cheney finally spoke, he said that he himself was the one responsible for what happened on that day. Well to me it sounds like someone told Cheney, "This is a very charged event and the press is running wild with it. You can't blame the old guy who's still in the hospital for this incident, the American public won't go for that. I think you better tell them that it was your fault." (OK, I have been watching a little too much Commander In Chief.....LOL) I think it was just face and that Cheney ultimately still feels that he wasn't really to blame. Everything these days is about being politically correct and I think Cheney blaming himself is an example of this. What do others think?

I also have a suspicion that Cheney and the Ol' boys may have been drinking, while or prior to going out to hunt. There are rumors of this, which could certainly explain why he didn't want to deal with the press himself. Of course there could be multiple reasons, but this is in the realm of possibility. Maybe Cheney was drunk, he looks like a Whisky kind of guy. Maybe he had a little Southern Comfort before going out on the range. None the less, it was a bad situation made worse by the (mis)handling of informing his boss and the American public.

It was also interesting that Cheney didn't even have the proper permit to be hunting at that time. After this little fact was leaked to the media, he sent in a $7 check for the permit. Hmmmm.....so that means he broke the law, even if it was a minor breaking of the law, he still did it. This is the Vice President of the United States here, not just some hick in Texas. This is the very man who, next to President Bush is held on a pedestal for being an example of greatness, which includes honesty, integrity and abiding by laws, even the small, simple ones. I don't mean to nit pick, but this is an administration who pushes a conservative Christian, morality -based agenda, where honesty and integrity are important values, though with every passing day, they seem to counter these values with their poor leadership. I have never seen a leadership style that used a "do as I say, not as I do" philosophy be effective and I don't think this administration will be the exception.

The bottom line for me is, I just don't get why a victim would apologize to the perpetrator, especially if they suffered adverse health consequences as a direct result of the incident. But I'm guessing Whittington got something real nice from Cheney for his pain and suffering or else he wouldn't be so cordial about it publicly. Friendship and camaraderie only goes so far. I'm sure though, that even if Whittington would have kicked the bucket, Cheney would have gotten off with no real consequences, because of who he is and that must be a damn good feeling!

Back From A Blogger Break

I haven't posted anything in almost a month, so I hope people will still check in on me. I haven't been in a motivated to post anything on my Blog recently, so instead of posting mindless junk, I decided that I'd wait until I had something to post or to at least check in with my readers. So I'm breaking the silence....LOL (as if it's that serious).

The past month has been pretty good for me, aside from a brief period where I was feeling a little out of sorts and not really motivated to do as much as I usually do, but I have gotten beyond that now. I've been pretty busy at work working on this new research project we're starting and I've been doing a lot of reading and writing for that project and the other project we're doing the data analysis for, so I haven't felt much like doing personal writing. I tend to put a lot into the things I write on here and my posts tend to be time consuming for me, case in point, this post, along with another one I'll be posting later took me 3 hours. I write and then edit and then re-edit, like I'm writing for a real publication! But I do take this seriously and value representing myself well. The problem is, it takes too long....LOL. I was supposed to be in bed by 12 and I haven't evern showered yet or got my clothes ready for tomorrow.

There are a couple of things coming up for me that I'm looking forward to. First off, I recently was selected to attend a Gay Men's Leadership training the second week of March in Cali. I've never been out West, so this is a welcomed experience and it makes it even better that I get to go and don't have to pay anything for it. I was one of four people given a scholarship from Philadelphia. Second, I have another Many Men, Many Voices facilitation coming up in the first weekend of March. I always enjoy the retreats and meeting new people. At the last retreat, I met No4real4real, who was a catalyst for me to start Blogging, and a few other people who I had a good time with. Another thing I'm excited about is that the Black Gay Men's planning group I'm a part of here in Philly, which was just beginning to form toward the end of last year has been making some good progress as far as becoming more organized. We're workin' it out and have developed a mission and a name and we're starting the process of prioritizing issues we will be addressing over the next few months. I've also started back working out again and have managed to make it to the gym 4 times a week that past couple of weeks and have modified my eating habits slightly for the better. Time to get in shape for the summer and beyond. I've gained that "relationship weight" that I've never been able to get off while still in a relationship, but I'm gonna try my best this time around.

So that's what I've been up to the past month or so. I haven't been keeping up with the Blogosphere like I had been either, so I'm planning to get back into checking in on my favorite Bloggers. Alas, there are a few things current events related that have been on my mind. Some are more serious that others. I may write about the serious ones in more depth later, but here are some quick thoughts on them.

Coretta Scott King
What a deep loss to not only social justice for Blacks in the United States, but also to the fight for civil rights for GLBT folks. I am ashamed to say that I am learning more about the work she did after her death that I knew while she was alive. She seemed to have a beautiful spirit and her body was laid to rest before it's time. She had much more work to do, but I am grateful she was able to do as much as she did while she was with us. It's amazing how she picked up and continued the work of her husband after his assassination. She was a strong woman and it's ironic that she died on the eve of Black History Month. She will be missed!

Philadelphia's Violence Problem
I have been wanting to write about this for a while now, but haven't gotten around to it. I plan to write a larger post on it at some point, but Philly is about to replace Camden as the most violent city in America. Last year we had 380 homicides, most of which were victims of gun violence. That means on average that at least one person a day died to homicide in Philly and on some days more than one person died. This year is on track to be the same. In the first 18 days of the year, there were 18 homicides. I'm not sure what the latest statistic is, but I'm almost sure that we are still on track with an average of one homicide per day. A couple of weeks ago, there was 3 murders in a 5 hour period here. It's crazy! The mayor has a 4 step plan he's trying to implement along with the police commissioner to decrease the violence in the city. I went to a rally, in South Philly where I live, where they talked about their plan and were trying to get community buy in. One of the things they want is for people to step forward and give information about crimes they see. I can honestly say that at least 50 of those murders last year were of people who talked to the police about what they saw. That's a statistic that most people don't want to be a part of, so a lot of people don't report what they see. There are no real witness protection programs for everyday folk.

This is an issue that seems to really be a problem here and there seems to be no effective solution implemented yet. I hope the Mayor's plan will prove to be effective. They have even put the guardian Angels back on the streets here, though I haven't seen any of them since I saw the news broadcast. It's becoming a scary place to live, no matter where you are in this world. One can only hope that some sense of civility will come about soon.

Bow Wow Disses Ron Isley
Now I'm kinda going out on a limb on this one, because I only heard about it on the radio this morning and haven't read anything myself. Apparently Bow Wow, who used to be called Lil' Bow Wow (as if his ass has grown that much) dissed Ron Isley by saying that he (Bow Wow) is a hot artist who has went platinum and challenged Isley as a no body in today's music scene. or something to that effect. If this is the case, Bow Weezy needs hid ass whipped. Kids don't talk to grown folks like that and when they do they get a back hand. I think Bow Wow is coming down with a case of egomania along with Kanye West. I don't think that Bow Wow's career has much more staying power anyway. I admit I liked all the songs he's released off this album, though I didn't buy it, but he needs to learn how to be humble. Humility seems to be a virtue that just about every hip hop artist lacks, because they all think they're better than every other rapper. I did hear Bow Wow's interview on Wendy Williams last week I think it was and he had the nerve to say that besides Jay Z and one or two other people, there is no good rappers in the game. Is he kidding me? His music is on the pop side of rap in my opinion and he's samplin' from oldies like all the others. For me, that "I'm the best" attitude is gettin' old. If Bow Wow was so hot, why the hell did he wear beads in his hair in that "Let Me Hold You Tight" video? I thought that went out with little Black girls in the 80's! Am I wrong? Anyway, I hope his mother, who probably got pregnant with Bow Wow to an Isley Brothers album, puts his little arrogant azz in check.

Tom Cruise and Katey Holmes
What the hell is going on there? One day he's on top of Oprah's sofa screaming about how in love he is with Katey Holmes, then he knocks her up and then a few months later, they're headed for splitsville! I was watching the news tonight and the reporter said they are breaking up, but keeping up public appearances or some such mess until the baby is born. I tell you these stars are a mess. I think she was just a rebound relationship for him anyway and I'm sure Nicole is saying "I could have told you that was coming". I haven' heard why they're breaking up or who is the one breaking it off, but my guess is it's Tommy. Katey strikes me as young and dumb and was smitten by this sex symbol superstar who expressed interest in her. If it's true that they're breaking up, it's a shame their relationship will be over before the baby's even born. Heterosexual relationships are just as, if not more fragile than same sex ones, but yet they get the right to marry. And heteros have the nerve to think that gays would make a mockery of marriage. Please!