La petite mon ami... (I remember a tiny bit from Jr High French) J'entre don le salle de class. Uu, du, twa, cat, sank, seese, set, veet, nuf, deese. Obviously, I DO NOT remember the French spelling of one through ten, but I sorta remember how it sounds.
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"Too much candy" II-The bonus scenes ! from Capucha on Vimeo.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Kanye West NYC 5.15 - Can’t Tell Me Nothing
G-SHOCK EVENT Kanye does Can't Tell Me Nothing
You GOTTA see this! Check out the topless dancers with the space helmets, or whatever you call them. Pretty cool.....
SOURCE: ClickHere: KanyeLive.com
You GOTTA see this! Check out the topless dancers with the space helmets, or whatever you call them. Pretty cool.....
SOURCE: ClickHere: KanyeLive.com
What is N*E*R*D ?? I KNOW ~ Nels & I saw them in Portland w/Kanye on his GLOW IN THE DARK tour (6th row, right in the middle)
N*E*R*D was formed in 2001 by BAND MEMBERS Pharrell (Williams), Chad Hugo, & Shay Haley. N*E*R*D (pronounced ‘en ee are dee’, often referred to incorrectly as simply ‘nerd’) is the name of a group consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes and their friend Shay Haley. It is hard to pigeon-hole the band into one genre; they are loosely a blend of rock, hip-hop, and R&B.
Pharrell explains; “What is a N*E*R*D? N*E*R*D stands for No one Ever Really Dies. The Neptunes are who we are and N*E*R*D is what we do. It’s our life. N*E*R*D is just a basic belief, man. People’s energies are made of their souls. When you die, that energy may disperse but it isn’t destroyed.”
Williams and Hugo originally recorded the band’s debut album, In Search Of…, for European release in 2001 using similar digital production techniques used on Neptunes-produced records. However, they decided that if N*E*R*D was to be different from the Neptunes, it should sound different. This led to them re-recording the album (still titled In Search Of…) with the power pop band Spymob for worldwide release in 2002.In Search Of… achieved moderate success in the U.S.: the album reached number 59 on the Billboard 200; its first single, Lapdance, reached the top 40 on the modern rap charts; and its second single, Rock Star, reached the top 40 of the modern rock charts in the US. “Lapdance” also went top 40 in the Netherlands and its music video received heavy airplay on American MTV2. The album was well-received by critics even though it was not as successful as many of the Neptunes’ previous productions.The album won the second annual Shortlist Music Prize, awarded (by a group of musicians, journalists, and other music professionals) to the best album of the year which had sold less than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. The band performed at the show, bragging that the week prior to the ceremony, the album had, in fact, achieved gold status by selling over 500,000 units.A 6.1 surround mix of this album was released by DTS Entertainment on a DVD-Audio disk in 2005 under catalog number 7243 8 11521 9 5.Fly or DieThe band recorded its second album Fly or Die during 2003. The band actually learned to play the tunes live, as Chad Hugo told MTV News on December 9, 2003: “We’re the ones playing the instruments live this time. “I just started playing guitar last year so I’m learning as we go. Pharrell’s playing drums. [Last time] we didn’t have time to learn certain instruments so we got Spymob to help us out.”The band also recruited some assistance to record the album with Lenny Kravitz playing on the track
Maybe (which has been featured in ads for XM Satellite Radio) and Joel Madden and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte playing on the track Jump. Several of the tracks discuss issues of particular concern to adolescents, for example Thrasher, which is about bullies; Drill Sergeant, about rebellion; and Backseat Love, which talks about first love.Fly or Die went on sale on March 22, 2004. The album has so far gone top 10 in the USA, while the lead-off single, She Wants To Move, has gone top 5 in the UK, top 20 in Norway, Ireland, and Denmark, and top 40 in Australia and the Netherlands. The music videos for “She Wants To Move” and its followup single, “Maybe”, have received strong support from the digital cable network VH1 Soul in America.‘Break Up’In March 2005, Williams told BBC Radio 1 that he was unhappy with the band’s direction under management at Virgin Records and therefore the group had “expired”. He later issued a statement through the group’s manager retracting his previous comments saying the band had not broken up.Upcoming albumIn an interview with Billboard.com in July 2006, Williams said that they will be heading back to the studio later in the year to begin recording a third N*E*R*D album.
Pharrell explains; “What is a N*E*R*D? N*E*R*D stands for No one Ever Really Dies. The Neptunes are who we are and N*E*R*D is what we do. It’s our life. N*E*R*D is just a basic belief, man. People’s energies are made of their souls. When you die, that energy may disperse but it isn’t destroyed.”
Williams and Hugo originally recorded the band’s debut album, In Search Of…, for European release in 2001 using similar digital production techniques used on Neptunes-produced records. However, they decided that if N*E*R*D was to be different from the Neptunes, it should sound different. This led to them re-recording the album (still titled In Search Of…) with the power pop band Spymob for worldwide release in 2002.In Search Of… achieved moderate success in the U.S.: the album reached number 59 on the Billboard 200; its first single, Lapdance, reached the top 40 on the modern rap charts; and its second single, Rock Star, reached the top 40 of the modern rock charts in the US. “Lapdance” also went top 40 in the Netherlands and its music video received heavy airplay on American MTV2. The album was well-received by critics even though it was not as successful as many of the Neptunes’ previous productions.The album won the second annual Shortlist Music Prize, awarded (by a group of musicians, journalists, and other music professionals) to the best album of the year which had sold less than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. The band performed at the show, bragging that the week prior to the ceremony, the album had, in fact, achieved gold status by selling over 500,000 units.A 6.1 surround mix of this album was released by DTS Entertainment on a DVD-Audio disk in 2005 under catalog number 7243 8 11521 9 5.Fly or DieThe band recorded its second album Fly or Die during 2003. The band actually learned to play the tunes live, as Chad Hugo told MTV News on December 9, 2003: “We’re the ones playing the instruments live this time. “I just started playing guitar last year so I’m learning as we go. Pharrell’s playing drums. [Last time] we didn’t have time to learn certain instruments so we got Spymob to help us out.”The band also recruited some assistance to record the album with Lenny Kravitz playing on the track
Maybe (which has been featured in ads for XM Satellite Radio) and Joel Madden and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte playing on the track Jump. Several of the tracks discuss issues of particular concern to adolescents, for example Thrasher, which is about bullies; Drill Sergeant, about rebellion; and Backseat Love, which talks about first love.Fly or Die went on sale on March 22, 2004. The album has so far gone top 10 in the USA, while the lead-off single, She Wants To Move, has gone top 5 in the UK, top 20 in Norway, Ireland, and Denmark, and top 40 in Australia and the Netherlands. The music videos for “She Wants To Move” and its followup single, “Maybe”, have received strong support from the digital cable network VH1 Soul in America.‘Break Up’In March 2005, Williams told BBC Radio 1 that he was unhappy with the band’s direction under management at Virgin Records and therefore the group had “expired”. He later issued a statement through the group’s manager retracting his previous comments saying the band had not broken up.Upcoming albumIn an interview with Billboard.com in July 2006, Williams said that they will be heading back to the studio later in the year to begin recording a third N*E*R*D album.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
TODAY IS THE DAY
I've kept quiet, just in case my son checked in here, but TODAY he and I are driving 110 miles to Portland to see Kanye and the Glow in the Dark concert with Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., Rhianna and Kanye's unbelievable GLOW IN THE DARK lost-in-space one-man performance.
My son still has NO IDEA where we are going. In fact, even though I've been telling him for weeks we had something to do today, and again on Sunday not to go out and get drunk and have a hangover today (he's 26). When he went to bed at 4 am, (I was sleeping on the couch, and he woke me up,) I said, "You have to get up at 11 to get ready, we're leaving at noon," he said, "WHAT????" "I told you, we've got something to do today," and he trucked off with the dog to go to sleep. I had told him on Sunday we'd be leaving at noon, so he couldn't say ANYTHING! He'd had PLENTY of warning!
I was at the tour's first show in Seattle on April 16, with my step-daughter WAY up on the side of the stage. We really couldn't see the light show very well, so THIS TIME, I got 4-star seats in the first 20 rows. You don't find out where your seats are until you pick them up the day of the show.
SO, I'm hoping N.E.R.D. plays Everybody Nose. I just LOVE that song. I bounce around the house doing my chores to it. My E met Pharrell up at KUBE radio in Seattle back in 2003 I think. Could have been 2002. He was up there with Matt who did commercials for them.
Well, doubt I'll have time for any other posts today. GOT TO GET READY TO GO! It's raining and I don't even know what to wear....
My son still has NO IDEA where we are going. In fact, even though I've been telling him for weeks we had something to do today, and again on Sunday not to go out and get drunk and have a hangover today (he's 26). When he went to bed at 4 am, (I was sleeping on the couch, and he woke me up,) I said, "You have to get up at 11 to get ready, we're leaving at noon," he said, "WHAT????" "I told you, we've got something to do today," and he trucked off with the dog to go to sleep. I had told him on Sunday we'd be leaving at noon, so he couldn't say ANYTHING! He'd had PLENTY of warning!
I was at the tour's first show in Seattle on April 16, with my step-daughter WAY up on the side of the stage. We really couldn't see the light show very well, so THIS TIME, I got 4-star seats in the first 20 rows. You don't find out where your seats are until you pick them up the day of the show.
SO, I'm hoping N.E.R.D. plays Everybody Nose. I just LOVE that song. I bounce around the house doing my chores to it. My E met Pharrell up at KUBE radio in Seattle back in 2003 I think. Could have been 2002. He was up there with Matt who did commercials for them.
Well, doubt I'll have time for any other posts today. GOT TO GET READY TO GO! It's raining and I don't even know what to wear....
Sunday, June 1, 2008
My Celts Pulled it Off Friday Evening....
I've been SO.... busy (best friend over for dinner, then her daughter, 8 yr old, spent the weekend with Auntie) so haven't had time for posting.
I was, for the first time EVER, the first one to GRAB a plate on Friday to get in the living room to watch the game. Usually, when I'm entertaining I don't eat. BUT, dinner was SO.........good I HAD to get a plate. I barbecued salmon on the grill outside, had chili rellenos, ceasar salad, and fried rice. YUMMEEEE!!!
SO.. it will be the BOSTON Celtics v Los Angeles Lakers I AM SO.... EXCITED!!!
I will be rooting for the Celts. I know that may not be the favorite, but that's my choice, not because I'm sure they'll win, but because I'm a die hard FAN!
I was, for the first time EVER, the first one to GRAB a plate on Friday to get in the living room to watch the game. Usually, when I'm entertaining I don't eat. BUT, dinner was SO.........good I HAD to get a plate. I barbecued salmon on the grill outside, had chili rellenos, ceasar salad, and fried rice. YUMMEEEE!!!
SO.. it will be the BOSTON Celtics v Los Angeles Lakers I AM SO.... EXCITED!!!
I will be rooting for the Celts. I know that may not be the favorite, but that's my choice, not because I'm sure they'll win, but because I'm a die hard FAN!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
My Spurs got the Shaft the other night, but the Celts are DOING IT!!
ALTHOUGH, the Pistons did their darnedest (is that a word??) with a, not so much run, but what do you say, picking away at their lead until there was NO LEAD at the end of the game. It was Garnett's two free throws with 3.2 to go that REALLY clinched it.... What was that? The Celts were WAY up and totally dominated the third quarter.
The BEST game I've ever been to was a Sunday Sonics v Suns (Sir Charles was playing then) and they (the Suns were up by 17 at the start of the fourth quarter). The Sonics whittled and whittled and whittled and WE SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED until I, at least, had no voice (for two days following) and we WON THE GAME.
I think that was the year that Denver took us out in the first round, I could NOT watch the playoffs that year (literally made me ill) and I still have visions of Dikembe Mutombo lying on the floor holding the ball in jubilation. Pretty much the greatest upset in NBA playoff history.
Like I say, "IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS!!!"
REGGIE REGGIE REGGIE
That's all I gotta say!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Ever Notice that I Don't Talk About My Home Teams...
Another one slips away
Silva questions Mariners’ effort after fifth straight loss
RYAN DIVISH; ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
Published: May 25th, 2008 01:00 AM
NEW YORK – On a day when the general manager questioned the lack of leadership and accountability of the players, the Seattle Mariners showed hints of both – well, at least one player did.
It doesn’t change the fact the Mariners lost, 12-6, to the New York Yankees on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, and have dropped all five games they’ve played on this road trip and 12 of their past 17 to fall to 18-32.
But the fact starter Carlos Silva stood up and questioned the team’s recent efforts shows that impatience isn’t limited to fans and front-office personnel.
“If people played hard no matter what, you’re going to see a different game,” said Silva, who took the loss Saturday after giving up seven runs and 11 hits. “If you strike out or miss a play and you keep playing the game, you’re going to see a different game.”
Without naming names, Silva asked for some accountability from players.
“I hope they have that in mind – play hard no matter what,” he said. “If you have a bad at-bat, go out and play hard in the field. Some guys do and some guys don’t.”
There’s a level of acceptance on the team he finds troubling.
“It’s like guys in here have a bad game or whatever, and it’s great that you stay positive and stay with good attitude, but man, feel embarrassed, too,” he said. “I’d feel embarrassed. If you don’t feel embarrassed in this game when you’re struggling bad like this, it’s because you don’t care about it.”
Silva pointed to his last outing, a loss at Detroit in which he was rocked by the Tigers. He was ashamed to look his teammates in the eye the next day.
“The other day when I pitched against Detroit, I felt embarrassed,” he said. “I walked through clubhouse with no smile on my face. How could I smile in front of my teammates after that?”
Silva managed to go six innings Saturday, despite a marathon second inning. No other Mariners starter has lasted as long on this trip.
It’s a minor victory, to be sure, but that’s about the only kind the Mariners can find right now.
“After that inning, I said this isn’t going to get me out of the game. I kept fighting and kept battling and it was good,” Silva said. “And after that I had some success.”
And it allowed the Mariners to crawl back into the game. Seattle tied the score an inning later as Jose Vidro hit a three-run homer to right field and Adrian Beltre hit a sole homer to left.
“We got those runs back and we showed some life with our bats,” manager John McLaren said, clearly searching for positives.
The Yankees (24-25) regained the lead in the bottom of third when Melky Cabrera dropped in an RBI single to make it 5-4. But Silva held the Yankees in check until the sixth.
With two outs and nobody on, second baseman Jose Lopez booted a routine ground ball off the bat of Derek Jeter. Three pitches later, Bobby Abreu knocked Silva’s high change-up over the wall in left for a two-run homer.
Silva flashed his nasty side, stomping around the mound and wearing the look of crazed man. He wasn’t angry at Lopez; he was upset at himself.
“I didn’t pick my team up,” Silva said. “I got mad because I should have got out of that inning no matter what. …
“And I gave up the homer, he comes to me and says, ‘My bad.’ That’s why you always want to pick up your teammates.”
Silva finished off the inning, and his day was done.
“I said to myself today, no matter what happens, I’m going to fight today,” Silva said. “I wish that everybody had that in mind, too.”
McLaren appreciated the effort.
“That’s Silva,” McLaren said. “He battles and gives it everything he’s got.”
Not that it mattered. The game got out of hand as the Yankees tacked on five runs in the seventh, rendering Richie Sexson’s two-run homer in the eighth meaningless.
“It’s a very, very difficult, trying time,” Raul Ibañez said. “This is when you find out what you’re made of. This is a time when you dig deep and find out what the hell you’re made of.”
blogs.thenewstribune.com/mariners
SOURCE: The Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE
Silva questions Mariners’ effort after fifth straight loss
RYAN DIVISH; ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
Published: May 25th, 2008 01:00 AM
NEW YORK – On a day when the general manager questioned the lack of leadership and accountability of the players, the Seattle Mariners showed hints of both – well, at least one player did.
It doesn’t change the fact the Mariners lost, 12-6, to the New York Yankees on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, and have dropped all five games they’ve played on this road trip and 12 of their past 17 to fall to 18-32.
But the fact starter Carlos Silva stood up and questioned the team’s recent efforts shows that impatience isn’t limited to fans and front-office personnel.
“If people played hard no matter what, you’re going to see a different game,” said Silva, who took the loss Saturday after giving up seven runs and 11 hits. “If you strike out or miss a play and you keep playing the game, you’re going to see a different game.”
Without naming names, Silva asked for some accountability from players.
“I hope they have that in mind – play hard no matter what,” he said. “If you have a bad at-bat, go out and play hard in the field. Some guys do and some guys don’t.”
There’s a level of acceptance on the team he finds troubling.
“It’s like guys in here have a bad game or whatever, and it’s great that you stay positive and stay with good attitude, but man, feel embarrassed, too,” he said. “I’d feel embarrassed. If you don’t feel embarrassed in this game when you’re struggling bad like this, it’s because you don’t care about it.”
Silva pointed to his last outing, a loss at Detroit in which he was rocked by the Tigers. He was ashamed to look his teammates in the eye the next day.
“The other day when I pitched against Detroit, I felt embarrassed,” he said. “I walked through clubhouse with no smile on my face. How could I smile in front of my teammates after that?”
Silva managed to go six innings Saturday, despite a marathon second inning. No other Mariners starter has lasted as long on this trip.
It’s a minor victory, to be sure, but that’s about the only kind the Mariners can find right now.
“After that inning, I said this isn’t going to get me out of the game. I kept fighting and kept battling and it was good,” Silva said. “And after that I had some success.”
And it allowed the Mariners to crawl back into the game. Seattle tied the score an inning later as Jose Vidro hit a three-run homer to right field and Adrian Beltre hit a sole homer to left.
“We got those runs back and we showed some life with our bats,” manager John McLaren said, clearly searching for positives.
The Yankees (24-25) regained the lead in the bottom of third when Melky Cabrera dropped in an RBI single to make it 5-4. But Silva held the Yankees in check until the sixth.
With two outs and nobody on, second baseman Jose Lopez booted a routine ground ball off the bat of Derek Jeter. Three pitches later, Bobby Abreu knocked Silva’s high change-up over the wall in left for a two-run homer.
Silva flashed his nasty side, stomping around the mound and wearing the look of crazed man. He wasn’t angry at Lopez; he was upset at himself.
“I didn’t pick my team up,” Silva said. “I got mad because I should have got out of that inning no matter what. …
“And I gave up the homer, he comes to me and says, ‘My bad.’ That’s why you always want to pick up your teammates.”
Silva finished off the inning, and his day was done.
“I said to myself today, no matter what happens, I’m going to fight today,” Silva said. “I wish that everybody had that in mind, too.”
McLaren appreciated the effort.
“That’s Silva,” McLaren said. “He battles and gives it everything he’s got.”
Not that it mattered. The game got out of hand as the Yankees tacked on five runs in the seventh, rendering Richie Sexson’s two-run homer in the eighth meaningless.
“It’s a very, very difficult, trying time,” Raul Ibañez said. “This is when you find out what you’re made of. This is a time when you dig deep and find out what the hell you’re made of.”
blogs.thenewstribune.com/mariners
SOURCE: The Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE
Celts Had it From the Opening Bell
It was 11-0 to start the game. Now, I didn't get TOO excited, but you knew from the start the Celts had one thing on their minds, WINNING.
This monkey on their backs, going winless on the road in the playoff up until now, with 6 losses, didn't seem to have gottne in their heads one bit.
I'm down for a SPURS v CELTICS (although it's looking like I'm going to have to settle for LAL) finals. WE'LL SEE.....
This monkey on their backs, going winless on the road in the playoff up until now, with 6 losses, didn't seem to have gottne in their heads one bit.
I'm down for a SPURS v CELTICS (although it's looking like I'm going to have to settle for LAL) finals. WE'LL SEE.....
My motto is:
IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS.
Anything can happen on any given Sunday. (You know what I mean!)
Tornado Destroys PIG FARM in Oklahoma
I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THE PIGS ARE??????
I just watched the video on TV....
I'm just sitting here wondering -
Were those PIGS flying all over kingdom come?
OMGosh
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Baseball Players Ratify Tougher Drug Policy (IT'S ABOUT TIME)
SOURCE: ESPN.com
NEW YORK (AP) -- Baseball players approved a toughened drug agreement Friday -- the last possible day for ratification.
The sides announced the agreement April 11 and owners ratified it on May 14. The deal increases the frequency of tests and the authority of the program's independent administrator, among the recommendations made in December by baseball drug investigator George Mitchell.
The new rules -- which mark the third major overhaul since the joint drug program began in 2002 -- went into force immediately upon ratification.
As part of the deal, 15-day suspensions assessed against Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons were rescinded and commissioner Bud Selig agreed not to discipline players implicated in December's Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.
THANK GOODNESS!!!
NEW YORK (AP) -- Baseball players approved a toughened drug agreement Friday -- the last possible day for ratification.
The sides announced the agreement April 11 and owners ratified it on May 14. The deal increases the frequency of tests and the authority of the program's independent administrator, among the recommendations made in December by baseball drug investigator George Mitchell.
The new rules -- which mark the third major overhaul since the joint drug program began in 2002 -- went into force immediately upon ratification.
As part of the deal, 15-day suspensions assessed against Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons were rescinded and commissioner Bud Selig agreed not to discipline players implicated in December's Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.
THANK GOODNESS!!!
Diamondbacks' Doug Davis Pitches 7 innings in First Start After Thyroid Surgery
With his parents in the stands Davis pitched great and had PLENTY of help from his pals, who scored 11 runs last night, winning 11-1.
For all the cancer patients out there, this is GREAT to see.
For all the cancer patients out there, this is GREAT to see.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Myanmar is FINALLY accepting aid.
For GOODNESS SAKE... Relief workers have been waiting holed up just six hundred, if not closer, miles away with tons of supplies; medicines, WATER.
It's said that 180,000 have DIED, and 2 million are homeless. CAN YOU EVEN FATHOM????
Having been a relief worker of sorts, for over 10 years, I know how it can be gearing up to go do what you gotta do. OF COURSE I never had ANYTHING like that, but I had friends who worked for FEMA who have been to some of the hurricanes.
Mine was going and putting out forest fires and "I" stayed in base camp taking care of the finances, like making sure all the fire fighters, trucks, low-boys, helicopers, sanicans, etc., got paid for. Time-on, time-off, Sign 'em in, then sign 'em out and code everything everyday dependent opon whether or not the fire was under control and whether or not the person, or equipment was in route there to back home, it WAS NOT EASY!!! that's for sure. AND, if it was DECLARED a disaster, MORE CODING!!!!!! Go back and CHANGE the coding for 1,000 fire-fighters and all the private's their equipment.
Now, let me tell you, what I did out there was totally ruffing it. Sleep in a tent for 7 -21 days, eat at chest high tables standing up outside under tents. Use sani-cans, work in a HOT HOT trailer. Get bit by mosquitos up the ying yang. YES it was plenty fun... Oh and did I mention we'd start at about 4:30 am, and go to bed about 10:30 at night. Somewhere during the day, after the say, third day, you get a break in the afternoon for an hour or so to take a shower. Now that shower could be in a shower trailer. And it may not be hot or even warm.
Now, the onw good thing about going out on fires is the PEOPLE. The friends I made over the 19 years of being on the same team. Plus, it would be like old home week, every time I'd go out. Plus, in order to get through something like that, 16 hours a day working for up to 10 days straight before they'd try to get you an R & R day at a motel near by, is to have FUN with your co-workers. They are great people or they wouldn't get in this fire business. TOO HARD of work.
Oh yes, the other good thing is the FOOD. Hot breakfast cooked by the inmate forestry camp kitchen that's assigned to your team. Sack lunches bought from a company that're delivered to the fire base camp by refrigerator truck, then a REALLY GOOD dinner cooked by the inmate crew. Usually it would be steak, salad, potatoes, vegetables, cake. I mean the it would be EXCELLENT.
OK, I've got to go shopping so I"m done with all that for now. I've got a picture of the Myanmar government officials.
It's said that 180,000 have DIED, and 2 million are homeless. CAN YOU EVEN FATHOM????
Having been a relief worker of sorts, for over 10 years, I know how it can be gearing up to go do what you gotta do. OF COURSE I never had ANYTHING like that, but I had friends who worked for FEMA who have been to some of the hurricanes.
Mine was going and putting out forest fires and "I" stayed in base camp taking care of the finances, like making sure all the fire fighters, trucks, low-boys, helicopers, sanicans, etc., got paid for. Time-on, time-off, Sign 'em in, then sign 'em out and code everything everyday dependent opon whether or not the fire was under control and whether or not the person, or equipment was in route there to back home, it WAS NOT EASY!!! that's for sure. AND, if it was DECLARED a disaster, MORE CODING!!!!!! Go back and CHANGE the coding for 1,000 fire-fighters and all the private's their equipment.
Now, let me tell you, what I did out there was totally ruffing it. Sleep in a tent for 7 -21 days, eat at chest high tables standing up outside under tents. Use sani-cans, work in a HOT HOT trailer. Get bit by mosquitos up the ying yang. YES it was plenty fun... Oh and did I mention we'd start at about 4:30 am, and go to bed about 10:30 at night. Somewhere during the day, after the say, third day, you get a break in the afternoon for an hour or so to take a shower. Now that shower could be in a shower trailer. And it may not be hot or even warm.
Now, the onw good thing about going out on fires is the PEOPLE. The friends I made over the 19 years of being on the same team. Plus, it would be like old home week, every time I'd go out. Plus, in order to get through something like that, 16 hours a day working for up to 10 days straight before they'd try to get you an R & R day at a motel near by, is to have FUN with your co-workers. They are great people or they wouldn't get in this fire business. TOO HARD of work.
Oh yes, the other good thing is the FOOD. Hot breakfast cooked by the inmate forestry camp kitchen that's assigned to your team. Sack lunches bought from a company that're delivered to the fire base camp by refrigerator truck, then a REALLY GOOD dinner cooked by the inmate crew. Usually it would be steak, salad, potatoes, vegetables, cake. I mean the it would be EXCELLENT.
OK, I've got to go shopping so I"m done with all that for now. I've got a picture of the Myanmar government officials.
SHAME OF THEM FOR TAKING SO LONG AND
LETTING THEIR POOR CITIZENS SUFFER!!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Senator Kennedy is Being Released from Hospital
He has a malignant tumor that is most certainly fatal. He wants to go home and go sailing. He could have up to a couple of years. But, who knows.
This is very SAD for me. All I can do a sign....
This is very SAD for me. All I can do a sign....
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Ain't this a B ~ Spurs end up having to sleep on the plane
The San Antonio Spurs, fresh off a Game 7 win over the New Orleans Hornets, were planning a quick getaway to Los Angeles to prepare to face the Lakers in the Western Conference finals.
Instead, they spent the night in their grounded plane in New Orleans.
The Spurs' departure from New Orleans after eliminating the Hornets 91-82 in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals was delayed several hours after their plane had mechanical problems, the team said Tuesday.
The team could not find hotel rooms in the city, so the players had to sleep on the plane, team spokesman Cliff Puchalski said.
"We slept on the plane -- as much as you can sleep," Puchalski said. "We tried to keep some normal semblance of order."
Puchalski said the team slept on the plane with the mechanical problems before boarding another plane that was brought in from Minneapolis. The team took off about 6:30 a.m. Central time, Puchalski said, and landed in Los Angeles about four hours later.
San Antonio uses the charter company Champion Air, which has announced it is ceasing all operations at the end of May.
Instead, they spent the night in their grounded plane in New Orleans.
The Spurs' departure from New Orleans after eliminating the Hornets 91-82 in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals was delayed several hours after their plane had mechanical problems, the team said Tuesday.
The team could not find hotel rooms in the city, so the players had to sleep on the plane, team spokesman Cliff Puchalski said.
"We slept on the plane -- as much as you can sleep," Puchalski said. "We tried to keep some normal semblance of order."
Puchalski said the team slept on the plane with the mechanical problems before boarding another plane that was brought in from Minneapolis. The team took off about 6:30 a.m. Central time, Puchalski said, and landed in Los Angeles about four hours later.
San Antonio uses the charter company Champion Air, which has announced it is ceasing all operations at the end of May.
I feel certain my son read this article. It really upset him that the Hip Hop Community stuck by R Kelly telling me "He's ruined those girls' lives."
This is LONG and I'm sorry. It's a June 9, 2002 story from the Chicago Sun Times.
R. Kelly: Inspirational singer or perverted swinger?
Discovered at a barbecue, he hit it big — but some saw dark cloud over R. Kelly
June 9, 2002
BY JIM DeROGATIS and ABDON M. PALLASCH Staff Reporters
Who is the real R. Kelly?
Is the R&B superstar the inspiring gospel preacher behind uplifting anthems such as "I Believe I Can Fly," "I Wish" and "The World's Greatest"?
Or is the South Sider the self-professed "sexual super freak" of raunchy bedroom shakers like "Bump N' Grind," "I Like the Crotch on You" and "Feelin' On Yo Booty"?
The answer is that 35-year-old Robert Sylvester Kelly is both, as well as a private, tormented individual who has been urged repeatedly over the last decade by friends and associates to seek help for what they call a "compulsion" to pursue underage girls, these sources have told the Sun-Times.
Since launching his career in 1992, Kelly has sold more than 23 million albums. If not a household name, he has nonetheless been hailed as the most important R&B singer, producer and songwriter of his generation — a familiar icon dressed in foreboding black leather and shades or a resplendent white suit with bowler hat and cane.
Last week, fans saw the 6-foot-3 Kelly looking small in a prison-issue orange jumpsuit, holding back tears as he appeared before a judge to pay the $750,000 bail that was set after he was indicted Wednesday on 21 counts of child pornography.
Law enforcement officials said the investigation is ongoing and more charges may follow. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services also has launched a probe into the family of the girl in the alleged child-porn tape. Whatever the coming weeks bring, one thing is certain: The sexual super freak and the gospel preacher have experienced a tragic fall from grace.
'I knew I had something'
The third of four children, Kelly was born in the South on Jan. 8, 1967. His family moved to Chicago when he was a toddler. His mother, Joann, was a teacher and a devout Baptist. Little is known about his father, who was missing through most of his youth.
The family lived for a time in the projects on 63rd Street, and later in a small house at 107th and Parnell. Kelly would return to this home some 25 years later, using the front porch as the setting in the video for "I Wish."
A shy, introspective and somewhat effeminate boy, Kelly often turned to his mother for protection when his two brothers teased and picked on him. He told Vibe magazine that he enjoyed eavesdropping on his mother, aunt and sister as they gossiped at the kitchen table as much as he enjoyed playing basketball with his brothers on the playground.
Former associates and family members say that he was abused as a child by an older man in the neighborhood, and this pushed his withdrawal from his male peers.
Kelly has often told the press that he was shot at age 13 when some thugs tried to steal his Huffy bicycle. But his mother told a former associate on her deathbed that her son had in fact invented the story to cover a suicide attempt. He reportedly still carries the bullet in his shoulder.
Music entered Kelly's life through his mother, who introduced him to the albums of her favorite soul singer, Donny Hathaway. "He had a sexual texture in his voice that I always wanted in mine," Kelly told the Sun-Times' Dave Hoekstra in 1994. "He had smooth, soulful tones, but he was spiritual at the same time."
In 1979, Hathaway committed suicide at age 33 by jumping off the 15th floor of the Essex House Hotel in New York. "I cried like a baby when I found out he passed away," Kelly said.
Aware of his sensitive nature, Joann worked hard to win Robert admittance to Hyde Park's prestigious Kenwood Academy. As a freshman there, he met the second woman who would became a major influence in his life, music teacher Lena McLin. The niece of gospel great Thomas A. Dorsey, McLin's other celebrated pupils include Chaka Khan and Da Brat.
McLin taught her students bel canto, a style of operatic singing that stresses vocal precision and evenness of tone. In the second week, she called on Kelly to sing at the front of the class. He did so reluctantly, but she recognized his talent instantly. "If they were ashamed of themselves, I'd make them stand in front of the mirror," she told Vibe. "I asked them, 'Do you think God made a mistake? He could've made you a roach!' "
McLin talked Kelly into wearing dark glasses and singing Stevie Wonder's 1982 hit "Ribbon in the Sky" at a high school talent show.
"That night it was like Spider-Man being bit," Kelly told Hoekstra. "I discovered this power. I knew I had something then."
'The eye of the tiger'
Kelly got poor grades at Kenwood, and he never graduated. Friends and former associates say he can barely read or do basic math, and he is extremely insecure about these shortcomings. But his innate musical talents provided the route out of poverty.
Accompanying himself on a portable Casio keyboard, Kelly performed for spare change on L platforms. One day he collected $400. He was singing at a backyard barbecue in Pill Hill when he was discovered by Wayne Williams, who ran the Midwest regional office of Jive Records.
"I was inside the house and Robert was performing outside," Williams recalled. "I saw this guy who had all the steps down, real choreographed. You could tell he put a lot into it, which is something you usually don't see, especially at a backyard barbecue. It was the eye of the tiger."
Kelly already had a manager, Eric Payton, but it was time for more powerful representation. Payton was bought out by Barry Hankerson, a major player in the black music world who has been married to Gladys Knight, produced shows on Broadway and continues to manage Toni Braxton, among others.
After revelations about the videotape prosecutors call child porn, Kelly said that "former managers" were trying to ruin him with damaging revelations. He refused to name his alleged enemies, saying that his lawyers have advised against it. Both Payton and Hankerson declined to be interviewed for this story.
In 1991, Kelly struck a deal with Jive, the label that would become home to 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. At the time, new jack swing and vocal groups such as Boyz II Men still ruled the R&B world, and it was decided that Kelly should be introduced to the public as part of a band.
His first album, "Born into the '90s," was credited to R. Kelly and Public Announcement — though he was front and center in the photos, produced the disc and took credit for all the lead vocals. By January 1993, a year after its release, the disc had sold a million copies.
"I thank my mother for her guidance and for being there for me through the good times and the bad," Kelly wrote in the liner notes. He also thanked "my music teacher and pastor," McLin, though he misspelled her name.
Kelly split from Public Announcement a short time later, and it was with his first solo album in November 1993 that he broke wide open. Propelled by the down and dirty single "Bump N' Grind," "12 Play" sold more than five million copies.
R. Kelly had arrived, but even before he officially became a millionaire, he was allegedly abusing the privileges of fame.
Chicagoan Tiffany Hawkins said in a lawsuit that she began having sex with Kelly in 1991, when she was 15, sometimes as part of group scenes involving other minors. The terms of the settlement forbid Hawkins from talking, but a friend who says she participated in group sex with Kelly and Hawkins when she was 16 (and who was prepared to testify about this at trial) said the star met the two girls for the first time when he returned to Kenwood to speak to McLin's choir class.
Sources say teachers at Kenwood warned students that Kelly often returned to "cruise" young girls. Asked about the Hawkins lawsuit in December 2000, McLin said, "I don't know what he did outside of school. But in the school, there was no hanky panky. If they were involved in that, the sad thing is, it takes two to tango."
Kelly's relationship with Hawkins ended in 1994, when she turned 18, according to her suit. She charged that Kelly had promised to help her career as a singer, and he never did. The split left her so devastated that she attempted suicide, she said.
Hawkins filed her suit on Christmas Eve 1996. Her attorney, Susan Loggans, had warned Kelly the suit was coming. In a preemptive strike, Kelly sued Hawkins first, charging that she was trying to blackmail him on paternity charges.
No evidence was ever presented for that claim. Hawkins' court papers never mentioned a paternity charge, and Kelly's claim was eventually dismissed. But Kelly's publicist leaked his side of the story to gossip columnists at the Sun-Times and the New York Daily News.
Hawkins was effectively discredited as a gold digger, and the damning allegations in her lawsuit were never reported anywhere in the press until a December 2000 story in the Sun-Times.
In 1996, a Kelly spokesman told the Daily News that the star would fight Hawkins' suit. "Many celebrities are constantly being harassed and sued, and more often than not, they decide to settle," he said. "Kelly has decided, 'No way.' "
But sources say Kelly reconsidered that hard-line position and paid Hawkins a quarter of a million dollars Jan. 23, 1998, just four days after she gave a 71/2-hour deposition about the singer's sexual proclivities. A party privy to that deposition (which has been sealed by the court) said the charges were "hair-raising."
"It all started to go wrong for Robert with that Hawkins case," said a friend of Hawkins' who worked as one of Kelly's dancers. "The brother's got problems, and he should have learned from the Hawkins case and got help for them."
'Nothing but a number'
Kelly met Aaliyah D. Haughton, a talented Detroit native and Hankerson's niece, when she was 12. In June 1994, when she was 15, she released her multiplatinum debut, which had been produced by Kelly.
In the title track, which Kelly wrote, Aaliyah sang, "Age ain't nothing but a number/Throwing down ain't nothing but a thang/This something I have for you, it'll never change."
Sources say that Kelly and Aaliyah had been having an intimate relationship for several months at that point, and that after his mother and McLin, Aaliyah was the only woman he has ever truly loved. "If he never loved anybody, he loved her," a former associate said. "If nothing else was genuine about him, his love for that young lady was, and I don't think her age had anything to do with it."
In a December 1994 interview, Aaliyah told the Sun-Times she never had a romantic relationship with Kelly. Kelly has always avoided discussing Aaliyah, but in December 2000, his spokeswoman, Regina Daniels, said, "Rob did date Aaliyah, yes he did, and he did have a relationship with Aaliyah, yes he did, and past that, unfortunately, it didn't work out."
On Aug. 31, 1994, Kelly surprised Aaliyah by taking her to a room at the Sheraton Gateway Suites in Rosemont. Waiting there were a minister, the Rev. Nathan J. Edmond, and a falsified marriage certificate listing Aaliyah's age as 18. It had been secured with fake I.D. by one of Kelly's assistants, sources said. Kelly was 27.
Edmond has refused to speak about that day, but a certificate on file with the Cook County clerk says that he pronounced the star and his young protege man and wife. Family members say Aaliyah thought it was all an elaborate "game," and she just went along with it. Within hours, she realized what had happened, and she went to her family and sought their help.
The family separated the couple, and Aaliyah never saw Kelly again. The marriage was annulled a few weeks later in Detroit, where records have been sealed.
Revelations of the marriage caused a public scandal in 1994, and several publications printed the marriage certificate. But while Illinois law makes it illegal for adult men to have sex with girls under 17, police and prosecutors never investigated.
Aaliyah went on to work with other producers, including Timbaland, and to launch a successful career as an actress. She died in a plane crash Aug. 25, 2001.
"Aaliyah's gone. and I have a lot of respect for Aaliyah and her parents," Kelly said in an interview with BET last month. "I really don't think it's fair to say anything doing with Aaliyah, because I really don't think Aaliyah deserves that."
'Like a real freak'
The Aaliyah scandal did not hurt Kelly's career. In September 1995, the single he produced for Michael Jackson, "You Are Not Alone," became the first No. 1 hit for the King of Pop since his own well-publicized sex scandal. (Jackson paid a reported $15 million to the family of a 13-year-old boy with whom he'd allegedly had sexual relations.)
Kelly also produced hits for Celine Dion (the No. 1 smash "I'm Your Angel") and Toni Braxton ("I Don't Want To"). In November 1996, he released his third album, titled simply "R. Kelly." The next month, he scored his biggest hit.
"I Believe I Can Fly" was included on the soundtrack of "Space Jam," the children's film co-starring a live-action Michael Jordan and an animated Bugs Bunny. Kelly has claimed to be a personal friend of Jordan's, but a former associate says they were never close. "Michael would not ever show up to where he told Robert he would be," the associate said. "I don't think they ever got in each other's presence but once or twice."
An uplifting anthem driven by a gospel choir, "I Believe I Can Fly" offers the inspiring message that with faith in oneself, any obstacle can be overcome. "See I was on the verge of breaking down/Sometimes silence can seem so loud/There are miracles in life I must achieve/But first I know it starts inside of me," Kelly sang.
The tune hit No. 2 on the pop charts, won three Grammys, and became a staple at weddings, high school proms and church services.
"Sex is not the most important thing in my life — I get as much satisfaction from preaching to kids as anything else," Kelly told the Voice. But he continued to sing about earthier concerns as well.
"Get in the club 'bout twelvish/Me and my homies hoochie huntin'," he sang on "Hump Bounce." Onstage, he would feign intercourse with his dancers during "Like A Real Freak." Then, moments later, he'd introduce "I Wish," dropping to his knees to offer a tearful prayer to his mother, who died from cancer in 1993.
Many fans found these abrupt shifts between the transcendent and the venal, the inspirational and the X-rated jarring. And friends and associates say Kelly's devotion to his family was largely an act.
When Joann Kelly was dying, she had to check into the hospital under an assumed name because she could not pay her medical bills, two Kelly associates said. They added that long after her son had become a millionaire, his mother drove an old beater that she had to hot-wire to start.
Kelly has been estranged from his brothers for years. In a recent interview with Chicago radio personality Doug Banks, one brother, Keri Kelly, said he had never been to the house in Lake View where Robert lived for six years. (Kelly sold the George Street home, the alleged scene of the child-porn tape, for $2.25 million in April, several weeks after the existence of the tape was reported by the Sun-Times.)
While the singer portrayed his sister as lovingly braiding his hair in the video for "I Wish," associates say she worked as his housekeeper for several years, earning $400 a week.
Onstage, some of Kelly's handlers tried to remake him "Pygmalion"-style into a smooth and suave soul man like his hero, Hathaway. But the image he liked to project was that of the "R&B Thug" (to borrow the title of another of his songs), bringing the streetwise persona of the gangsta rapper into the more polite world of R&B.
Kelly was never as tough as he pretended to be. In July 1996, he and members of his entourage were involved in a fight with three men on a basketball court in Lafayette, La. The star spent several hours in jail, and associates say the experience left him a mental and physical wreck.
He vowed that he would never again do time behind bars.
The singer's personal habits are crude. He often goes days without showering, friends and associates say. He told Vibe magazine he often wears the same pair of pants three days in a row. But his magnetism and fame are such that countless women are drawn to him.
"He is a master manipulator," said one woman who had a relationship with Kelly when she was 17. (She asked that she not be identified.) This woman and three former Kelly associates said the star was adept at making young women think they were the center of his universe, and he often alienated them from friends and family members.
"He will sit at the piano and write a song for you right there on the spot, and women will just melt for him," said a former personal assistant.
In 1996, Kelly married the former Andrea Lee, a 22-year-old dancer from his touring troupe. The couple now have two daughters and a son, Robert Jr., who was born just a few weeks ago.
People in the singer's camp reportedly call Lee "Puppydog," and Kelly associates say she is required to knock before entering a room in their house if he is at home hanging out with friends.
Kelly's sexual pursuits did not come to a halt after the marriage.
One of Kelly's former personal assistants, who spoke to the Sun-Times on the condition that he not be named, said that he split with the star in the mid-'90s because of the Aaliyah incident, and because Kelly continued to seek out underage girls, some as young as 14.
Kelly's approach (which several sources said was typical) was described by a Los Angeles woman he seduced in 1999, when she was 17.
She had visited the set of the video shoot for "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time," and one of Kelly's assistants pressed something into the palm of her hand.
The singer had written his cell phone number on a tiny balled-up piece of paper. She called, and a relationship began.
Despite the scandal involving his niece, Hankerson remained as Kelly's manager for several years, but they split in 1998. Sources said Hankerson could not abide by his client's behavior, and that he agreed to waive money owed him if Kelly sought psychiatric help. The star refused.
Two other former associates say they also urged Kelly to get help for what they called "an ongoing compulsion." But when they approached the star with these concerns, he refused to listen to them. Both eventually split from Kelly.
Kelly's label, Jive Records, was named as a party in the Hawkins lawsuit in 1996, and Kelly associates reportedly warned label head Clive Calder about Kelly's behavior in 1998. Calder was traveling in Europe last week and could not be reached. Jive issued this statement: "R. Kelly has been with Jive Records for 11 years and we fully support him and his music."
Damning video evidence
Kelly's fifth album, "TP-2.com," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart in November 2000. That same month, the star was honored by the Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, receiving one of its first Legacy Awards for philanthropic efforts on behalf of the community. Kelly has given generously to numerous charities, though the Rev. James Meeks, his spiritual adviser, says the star has never donated to Meeks' Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
A few weeks later, in December 2000, the Sun-Times first exposed Kelly's pattern of pursuing underage girls. At the time, the Special Investigations Unit of the Chicago Police had been probing the singer's behavior for two years.
Kelly apparently continued to cavort with minors even after the Sun-Times story, court papers allege. In the second of three civil suits filed against the star by Loggans, Tracy Sampson, a 17-year-old intern at Epic Records and a student at Columbia College, said Kelly promised to help her career as a rapper and coerced her into a sexual relationship that began in April 2000 and continued through March 2001.
As he had with Hawkins, Kelly settled this suit, paying Sampson an undisclosed sum of money. The star also settled with a third girl represented by Loggans. In that case, the payment was made even before the lawsuit was filed. The settlement agreement prohibits Loggans from revealing any details about the case, but the plaintiff was an underage girl from Minneapolis, sources said.
In early 2001, several weeks after the first expose, the Sun-Times received an anonymous videotape that appears to depict Kelly and a young light-skinned black girl having sexual relations in a wood-paneled sauna room. Sources said Kelly had two identical rooms in his houses on George Street and in Olympia Fields. The tape was given to police, who have yet to determine the girl's age and identity.
A second, far more damning tape surfaced a year later, in February 2002.
This second videotape, which was also sent anonymously to the Sun-Times, was 26 minutes and 39 seconds long. It depicts a man, apparently Kelly, engaging in numerous sexual activities including urination with a 14-year-old girl, who was identified for the Sun-Times by her aunt.
Hours after receiving the tape, the Sun-Times turned it over to police, who promptly began investigating.
Last Wednesday, based on this second video, Kelly was indicted on 21 counts of videotaping and producing child pornography and enticing a minor to participate in child pornography.
In an interview with BET on May 8, Kelly said he is not the man in the tape. Last week, his criminal defense attorney, Ed Genson, declined to say whether the man is Kelly. Instead, he said he would prove in court that the girl in the tape was over 18.
Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine said the tape was authenticated by the FBI Crime Lab in Quantico, Va., and experts there said it is not a forgery. The quality of the original tape is crystal-clear, and the man who appears to be Kelly pauses several times in the action to adjust the camera angle.
The girl and her parents told the grand jury that she is not the girl in the tape. But the jurors heard from about 50 witnesses, including the girl's aunt, who identified Kelly, the girl, or both.
Months before the grand jury was impaneled, the girl's aunt said she thinks Kelly paid a cash settlement to the girl and her parents. Genson said no such settlement has been made. DCFS said Friday that it has reopened a probe of the girl and her family.
Kelly's world crumbles
Kelly will appear in court June 26 to face child pornography charges. Meanwhile, police and prosecutors say the investigation continues. Charges of sex with a minor are also being considered, and new evidence is being examined. Kelly also faces two ongoing civil suits.
For weeks before the indictment, several variations of a bootleg R. Kelly sex tape were available on street corners across America, as well as on the Internet — $10 for VHS, $15 for DVD.
Most of these tapes compile three scenes: the first tape sent to the Sun-Times with the girl who remains unidentified; a second scene with Martina Woods, an adult dancer who tours with Kelly friend and collaborator Ronald Isley, and the third, 26-minute videotape described in the indictment.
Police Supt. Terry Hillard warned Wednesday that anyone owning or selling one of these tapes has child pornography, and is subject to prosecution.
Two weeks ago, Woods sued Kelly for $50,000, saying she was unaware that she was being videotaped when she had sex with the singer at Chicago Trax Recording Studio.
A fourth woman represented by Loggans, Patrice Jones, also filed suit in late April alleging that she had sex with Kelly between 20 and 30 times before her 17th birthday. Kelly has vowed not to settle this case. "The ATM is closed," his longtime civil attorney Gerald Margolis said.
Loggans is representing a fifth woman with allegations against Kelly, and yet another lawsuit is pending.
Even before the indictment was announced last week, Kelly's peers in the music world had begun to distance themselves, with artists such as Dr. Dre, Nas, Sisqo and P. Diddy speaking against him. Kelly's last album, a joint effort with chart-topping rapper Jay-Z, was a commercial flop because Jay-Z refused to tour, make a video, or do any interviews with Kelly after revelations about the videotape.
After the child pornography charges surfaced, several radio stations across the country pulled Kelly's music from their play lists.
Kelly said Friday he eagerly awaits his day in court. But none of the associates who broke from his camp in the last few years are optimistic about the outcome.
Said one of Kelly's former personal assistants: "I really don't want to see him go to jail; I really don't. He should have confessed all of this when he had the chance and gotten some help."
The former dancer said: "I don't want him to go to jail, but there has got to come a point when you take responsibility for your actions, and that time has come."In the song "I Wish" from his last solo album, the gospel preacher seemed to predict the day that has now arrived for the sexual super freak. "And now you hear my songs the radio is playin'," Kelly sang. "Oh I can't believe my ears and what everybody's sayin'/Boy, I tell you folks don't know the half.
R. Kelly: Inspirational singer or perverted swinger?
Discovered at a barbecue, he hit it big — but some saw dark cloud over R. Kelly
June 9, 2002
BY JIM DeROGATIS and ABDON M. PALLASCH Staff Reporters
Who is the real R. Kelly?
Is the R&B superstar the inspiring gospel preacher behind uplifting anthems such as "I Believe I Can Fly," "I Wish" and "The World's Greatest"?
Or is the South Sider the self-professed "sexual super freak" of raunchy bedroom shakers like "Bump N' Grind," "I Like the Crotch on You" and "Feelin' On Yo Booty"?
The answer is that 35-year-old Robert Sylvester Kelly is both, as well as a private, tormented individual who has been urged repeatedly over the last decade by friends and associates to seek help for what they call a "compulsion" to pursue underage girls, these sources have told the Sun-Times.
Since launching his career in 1992, Kelly has sold more than 23 million albums. If not a household name, he has nonetheless been hailed as the most important R&B singer, producer and songwriter of his generation — a familiar icon dressed in foreboding black leather and shades or a resplendent white suit with bowler hat and cane.
Last week, fans saw the 6-foot-3 Kelly looking small in a prison-issue orange jumpsuit, holding back tears as he appeared before a judge to pay the $750,000 bail that was set after he was indicted Wednesday on 21 counts of child pornography.
Law enforcement officials said the investigation is ongoing and more charges may follow. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services also has launched a probe into the family of the girl in the alleged child-porn tape. Whatever the coming weeks bring, one thing is certain: The sexual super freak and the gospel preacher have experienced a tragic fall from grace.
'I knew I had something'
The third of four children, Kelly was born in the South on Jan. 8, 1967. His family moved to Chicago when he was a toddler. His mother, Joann, was a teacher and a devout Baptist. Little is known about his father, who was missing through most of his youth.
The family lived for a time in the projects on 63rd Street, and later in a small house at 107th and Parnell. Kelly would return to this home some 25 years later, using the front porch as the setting in the video for "I Wish."
A shy, introspective and somewhat effeminate boy, Kelly often turned to his mother for protection when his two brothers teased and picked on him. He told Vibe magazine that he enjoyed eavesdropping on his mother, aunt and sister as they gossiped at the kitchen table as much as he enjoyed playing basketball with his brothers on the playground.
Former associates and family members say that he was abused as a child by an older man in the neighborhood, and this pushed his withdrawal from his male peers.
Kelly has often told the press that he was shot at age 13 when some thugs tried to steal his Huffy bicycle. But his mother told a former associate on her deathbed that her son had in fact invented the story to cover a suicide attempt. He reportedly still carries the bullet in his shoulder.
Music entered Kelly's life through his mother, who introduced him to the albums of her favorite soul singer, Donny Hathaway. "He had a sexual texture in his voice that I always wanted in mine," Kelly told the Sun-Times' Dave Hoekstra in 1994. "He had smooth, soulful tones, but he was spiritual at the same time."
In 1979, Hathaway committed suicide at age 33 by jumping off the 15th floor of the Essex House Hotel in New York. "I cried like a baby when I found out he passed away," Kelly said.
Aware of his sensitive nature, Joann worked hard to win Robert admittance to Hyde Park's prestigious Kenwood Academy. As a freshman there, he met the second woman who would became a major influence in his life, music teacher Lena McLin. The niece of gospel great Thomas A. Dorsey, McLin's other celebrated pupils include Chaka Khan and Da Brat.
McLin taught her students bel canto, a style of operatic singing that stresses vocal precision and evenness of tone. In the second week, she called on Kelly to sing at the front of the class. He did so reluctantly, but she recognized his talent instantly. "If they were ashamed of themselves, I'd make them stand in front of the mirror," she told Vibe. "I asked them, 'Do you think God made a mistake? He could've made you a roach!' "
McLin talked Kelly into wearing dark glasses and singing Stevie Wonder's 1982 hit "Ribbon in the Sky" at a high school talent show.
"That night it was like Spider-Man being bit," Kelly told Hoekstra. "I discovered this power. I knew I had something then."
'The eye of the tiger'
Kelly got poor grades at Kenwood, and he never graduated. Friends and former associates say he can barely read or do basic math, and he is extremely insecure about these shortcomings. But his innate musical talents provided the route out of poverty.
Accompanying himself on a portable Casio keyboard, Kelly performed for spare change on L platforms. One day he collected $400. He was singing at a backyard barbecue in Pill Hill when he was discovered by Wayne Williams, who ran the Midwest regional office of Jive Records.
"I was inside the house and Robert was performing outside," Williams recalled. "I saw this guy who had all the steps down, real choreographed. You could tell he put a lot into it, which is something you usually don't see, especially at a backyard barbecue. It was the eye of the tiger."
Kelly already had a manager, Eric Payton, but it was time for more powerful representation. Payton was bought out by Barry Hankerson, a major player in the black music world who has been married to Gladys Knight, produced shows on Broadway and continues to manage Toni Braxton, among others.
After revelations about the videotape prosecutors call child porn, Kelly said that "former managers" were trying to ruin him with damaging revelations. He refused to name his alleged enemies, saying that his lawyers have advised against it. Both Payton and Hankerson declined to be interviewed for this story.
In 1991, Kelly struck a deal with Jive, the label that would become home to 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. At the time, new jack swing and vocal groups such as Boyz II Men still ruled the R&B world, and it was decided that Kelly should be introduced to the public as part of a band.
His first album, "Born into the '90s," was credited to R. Kelly and Public Announcement — though he was front and center in the photos, produced the disc and took credit for all the lead vocals. By January 1993, a year after its release, the disc had sold a million copies.
"I thank my mother for her guidance and for being there for me through the good times and the bad," Kelly wrote in the liner notes. He also thanked "my music teacher and pastor," McLin, though he misspelled her name.
Kelly split from Public Announcement a short time later, and it was with his first solo album in November 1993 that he broke wide open. Propelled by the down and dirty single "Bump N' Grind," "12 Play" sold more than five million copies.
R. Kelly had arrived, but even before he officially became a millionaire, he was allegedly abusing the privileges of fame.
Chicagoan Tiffany Hawkins said in a lawsuit that she began having sex with Kelly in 1991, when she was 15, sometimes as part of group scenes involving other minors. The terms of the settlement forbid Hawkins from talking, but a friend who says she participated in group sex with Kelly and Hawkins when she was 16 (and who was prepared to testify about this at trial) said the star met the two girls for the first time when he returned to Kenwood to speak to McLin's choir class.
Sources say teachers at Kenwood warned students that Kelly often returned to "cruise" young girls. Asked about the Hawkins lawsuit in December 2000, McLin said, "I don't know what he did outside of school. But in the school, there was no hanky panky. If they were involved in that, the sad thing is, it takes two to tango."
Kelly's relationship with Hawkins ended in 1994, when she turned 18, according to her suit. She charged that Kelly had promised to help her career as a singer, and he never did. The split left her so devastated that she attempted suicide, she said.
Hawkins filed her suit on Christmas Eve 1996. Her attorney, Susan Loggans, had warned Kelly the suit was coming. In a preemptive strike, Kelly sued Hawkins first, charging that she was trying to blackmail him on paternity charges.
No evidence was ever presented for that claim. Hawkins' court papers never mentioned a paternity charge, and Kelly's claim was eventually dismissed. But Kelly's publicist leaked his side of the story to gossip columnists at the Sun-Times and the New York Daily News.
Hawkins was effectively discredited as a gold digger, and the damning allegations in her lawsuit were never reported anywhere in the press until a December 2000 story in the Sun-Times.
In 1996, a Kelly spokesman told the Daily News that the star would fight Hawkins' suit. "Many celebrities are constantly being harassed and sued, and more often than not, they decide to settle," he said. "Kelly has decided, 'No way.' "
But sources say Kelly reconsidered that hard-line position and paid Hawkins a quarter of a million dollars Jan. 23, 1998, just four days after she gave a 71/2-hour deposition about the singer's sexual proclivities. A party privy to that deposition (which has been sealed by the court) said the charges were "hair-raising."
"It all started to go wrong for Robert with that Hawkins case," said a friend of Hawkins' who worked as one of Kelly's dancers. "The brother's got problems, and he should have learned from the Hawkins case and got help for them."
'Nothing but a number'
Kelly met Aaliyah D. Haughton, a talented Detroit native and Hankerson's niece, when she was 12. In June 1994, when she was 15, she released her multiplatinum debut, which had been produced by Kelly.
In the title track, which Kelly wrote, Aaliyah sang, "Age ain't nothing but a number/Throwing down ain't nothing but a thang/This something I have for you, it'll never change."
Sources say that Kelly and Aaliyah had been having an intimate relationship for several months at that point, and that after his mother and McLin, Aaliyah was the only woman he has ever truly loved. "If he never loved anybody, he loved her," a former associate said. "If nothing else was genuine about him, his love for that young lady was, and I don't think her age had anything to do with it."
In a December 1994 interview, Aaliyah told the Sun-Times she never had a romantic relationship with Kelly. Kelly has always avoided discussing Aaliyah, but in December 2000, his spokeswoman, Regina Daniels, said, "Rob did date Aaliyah, yes he did, and he did have a relationship with Aaliyah, yes he did, and past that, unfortunately, it didn't work out."
On Aug. 31, 1994, Kelly surprised Aaliyah by taking her to a room at the Sheraton Gateway Suites in Rosemont. Waiting there were a minister, the Rev. Nathan J. Edmond, and a falsified marriage certificate listing Aaliyah's age as 18. It had been secured with fake I.D. by one of Kelly's assistants, sources said. Kelly was 27.
Edmond has refused to speak about that day, but a certificate on file with the Cook County clerk says that he pronounced the star and his young protege man and wife. Family members say Aaliyah thought it was all an elaborate "game," and she just went along with it. Within hours, she realized what had happened, and she went to her family and sought their help.
The family separated the couple, and Aaliyah never saw Kelly again. The marriage was annulled a few weeks later in Detroit, where records have been sealed.
Revelations of the marriage caused a public scandal in 1994, and several publications printed the marriage certificate. But while Illinois law makes it illegal for adult men to have sex with girls under 17, police and prosecutors never investigated.
Aaliyah went on to work with other producers, including Timbaland, and to launch a successful career as an actress. She died in a plane crash Aug. 25, 2001.
"Aaliyah's gone. and I have a lot of respect for Aaliyah and her parents," Kelly said in an interview with BET last month. "I really don't think it's fair to say anything doing with Aaliyah, because I really don't think Aaliyah deserves that."
'Like a real freak'
The Aaliyah scandal did not hurt Kelly's career. In September 1995, the single he produced for Michael Jackson, "You Are Not Alone," became the first No. 1 hit for the King of Pop since his own well-publicized sex scandal. (Jackson paid a reported $15 million to the family of a 13-year-old boy with whom he'd allegedly had sexual relations.)
Kelly also produced hits for Celine Dion (the No. 1 smash "I'm Your Angel") and Toni Braxton ("I Don't Want To"). In November 1996, he released his third album, titled simply "R. Kelly." The next month, he scored his biggest hit.
"I Believe I Can Fly" was included on the soundtrack of "Space Jam," the children's film co-starring a live-action Michael Jordan and an animated Bugs Bunny. Kelly has claimed to be a personal friend of Jordan's, but a former associate says they were never close. "Michael would not ever show up to where he told Robert he would be," the associate said. "I don't think they ever got in each other's presence but once or twice."
An uplifting anthem driven by a gospel choir, "I Believe I Can Fly" offers the inspiring message that with faith in oneself, any obstacle can be overcome. "See I was on the verge of breaking down/Sometimes silence can seem so loud/There are miracles in life I must achieve/But first I know it starts inside of me," Kelly sang.
The tune hit No. 2 on the pop charts, won three Grammys, and became a staple at weddings, high school proms and church services.
"Sex is not the most important thing in my life — I get as much satisfaction from preaching to kids as anything else," Kelly told the Voice. But he continued to sing about earthier concerns as well.
"Get in the club 'bout twelvish/Me and my homies hoochie huntin'," he sang on "Hump Bounce." Onstage, he would feign intercourse with his dancers during "Like A Real Freak." Then, moments later, he'd introduce "I Wish," dropping to his knees to offer a tearful prayer to his mother, who died from cancer in 1993.
Many fans found these abrupt shifts between the transcendent and the venal, the inspirational and the X-rated jarring. And friends and associates say Kelly's devotion to his family was largely an act.
When Joann Kelly was dying, she had to check into the hospital under an assumed name because she could not pay her medical bills, two Kelly associates said. They added that long after her son had become a millionaire, his mother drove an old beater that she had to hot-wire to start.
Kelly has been estranged from his brothers for years. In a recent interview with Chicago radio personality Doug Banks, one brother, Keri Kelly, said he had never been to the house in Lake View where Robert lived for six years. (Kelly sold the George Street home, the alleged scene of the child-porn tape, for $2.25 million in April, several weeks after the existence of the tape was reported by the Sun-Times.)
While the singer portrayed his sister as lovingly braiding his hair in the video for "I Wish," associates say she worked as his housekeeper for several years, earning $400 a week.
Onstage, some of Kelly's handlers tried to remake him "Pygmalion"-style into a smooth and suave soul man like his hero, Hathaway. But the image he liked to project was that of the "R&B Thug" (to borrow the title of another of his songs), bringing the streetwise persona of the gangsta rapper into the more polite world of R&B.
Kelly was never as tough as he pretended to be. In July 1996, he and members of his entourage were involved in a fight with three men on a basketball court in Lafayette, La. The star spent several hours in jail, and associates say the experience left him a mental and physical wreck.
He vowed that he would never again do time behind bars.
The singer's personal habits are crude. He often goes days without showering, friends and associates say. He told Vibe magazine he often wears the same pair of pants three days in a row. But his magnetism and fame are such that countless women are drawn to him.
"He is a master manipulator," said one woman who had a relationship with Kelly when she was 17. (She asked that she not be identified.) This woman and three former Kelly associates said the star was adept at making young women think they were the center of his universe, and he often alienated them from friends and family members.
"He will sit at the piano and write a song for you right there on the spot, and women will just melt for him," said a former personal assistant.
In 1996, Kelly married the former Andrea Lee, a 22-year-old dancer from his touring troupe. The couple now have two daughters and a son, Robert Jr., who was born just a few weeks ago.
People in the singer's camp reportedly call Lee "Puppydog," and Kelly associates say she is required to knock before entering a room in their house if he is at home hanging out with friends.
Kelly's sexual pursuits did not come to a halt after the marriage.
One of Kelly's former personal assistants, who spoke to the Sun-Times on the condition that he not be named, said that he split with the star in the mid-'90s because of the Aaliyah incident, and because Kelly continued to seek out underage girls, some as young as 14.
Kelly's approach (which several sources said was typical) was described by a Los Angeles woman he seduced in 1999, when she was 17.
She had visited the set of the video shoot for "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time," and one of Kelly's assistants pressed something into the palm of her hand.
The singer had written his cell phone number on a tiny balled-up piece of paper. She called, and a relationship began.
Despite the scandal involving his niece, Hankerson remained as Kelly's manager for several years, but they split in 1998. Sources said Hankerson could not abide by his client's behavior, and that he agreed to waive money owed him if Kelly sought psychiatric help. The star refused.
Two other former associates say they also urged Kelly to get help for what they called "an ongoing compulsion." But when they approached the star with these concerns, he refused to listen to them. Both eventually split from Kelly.
Kelly's label, Jive Records, was named as a party in the Hawkins lawsuit in 1996, and Kelly associates reportedly warned label head Clive Calder about Kelly's behavior in 1998. Calder was traveling in Europe last week and could not be reached. Jive issued this statement: "R. Kelly has been with Jive Records for 11 years and we fully support him and his music."
Damning video evidence
Kelly's fifth album, "TP-2.com," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart in November 2000. That same month, the star was honored by the Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, receiving one of its first Legacy Awards for philanthropic efforts on behalf of the community. Kelly has given generously to numerous charities, though the Rev. James Meeks, his spiritual adviser, says the star has never donated to Meeks' Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
A few weeks later, in December 2000, the Sun-Times first exposed Kelly's pattern of pursuing underage girls. At the time, the Special Investigations Unit of the Chicago Police had been probing the singer's behavior for two years.
Kelly apparently continued to cavort with minors even after the Sun-Times story, court papers allege. In the second of three civil suits filed against the star by Loggans, Tracy Sampson, a 17-year-old intern at Epic Records and a student at Columbia College, said Kelly promised to help her career as a rapper and coerced her into a sexual relationship that began in April 2000 and continued through March 2001.
As he had with Hawkins, Kelly settled this suit, paying Sampson an undisclosed sum of money. The star also settled with a third girl represented by Loggans. In that case, the payment was made even before the lawsuit was filed. The settlement agreement prohibits Loggans from revealing any details about the case, but the plaintiff was an underage girl from Minneapolis, sources said.
In early 2001, several weeks after the first expose, the Sun-Times received an anonymous videotape that appears to depict Kelly and a young light-skinned black girl having sexual relations in a wood-paneled sauna room. Sources said Kelly had two identical rooms in his houses on George Street and in Olympia Fields. The tape was given to police, who have yet to determine the girl's age and identity.
A second, far more damning tape surfaced a year later, in February 2002.
This second videotape, which was also sent anonymously to the Sun-Times, was 26 minutes and 39 seconds long. It depicts a man, apparently Kelly, engaging in numerous sexual activities including urination with a 14-year-old girl, who was identified for the Sun-Times by her aunt.
Hours after receiving the tape, the Sun-Times turned it over to police, who promptly began investigating.
Last Wednesday, based on this second video, Kelly was indicted on 21 counts of videotaping and producing child pornography and enticing a minor to participate in child pornography.
In an interview with BET on May 8, Kelly said he is not the man in the tape. Last week, his criminal defense attorney, Ed Genson, declined to say whether the man is Kelly. Instead, he said he would prove in court that the girl in the tape was over 18.
Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine said the tape was authenticated by the FBI Crime Lab in Quantico, Va., and experts there said it is not a forgery. The quality of the original tape is crystal-clear, and the man who appears to be Kelly pauses several times in the action to adjust the camera angle.
The girl and her parents told the grand jury that she is not the girl in the tape. But the jurors heard from about 50 witnesses, including the girl's aunt, who identified Kelly, the girl, or both.
Months before the grand jury was impaneled, the girl's aunt said she thinks Kelly paid a cash settlement to the girl and her parents. Genson said no such settlement has been made. DCFS said Friday that it has reopened a probe of the girl and her family.
Kelly's world crumbles
Kelly will appear in court June 26 to face child pornography charges. Meanwhile, police and prosecutors say the investigation continues. Charges of sex with a minor are also being considered, and new evidence is being examined. Kelly also faces two ongoing civil suits.
For weeks before the indictment, several variations of a bootleg R. Kelly sex tape were available on street corners across America, as well as on the Internet — $10 for VHS, $15 for DVD.
Most of these tapes compile three scenes: the first tape sent to the Sun-Times with the girl who remains unidentified; a second scene with Martina Woods, an adult dancer who tours with Kelly friend and collaborator Ronald Isley, and the third, 26-minute videotape described in the indictment.
Police Supt. Terry Hillard warned Wednesday that anyone owning or selling one of these tapes has child pornography, and is subject to prosecution.
Two weeks ago, Woods sued Kelly for $50,000, saying she was unaware that she was being videotaped when she had sex with the singer at Chicago Trax Recording Studio.
A fourth woman represented by Loggans, Patrice Jones, also filed suit in late April alleging that she had sex with Kelly between 20 and 30 times before her 17th birthday. Kelly has vowed not to settle this case. "The ATM is closed," his longtime civil attorney Gerald Margolis said.
Loggans is representing a fifth woman with allegations against Kelly, and yet another lawsuit is pending.
Even before the indictment was announced last week, Kelly's peers in the music world had begun to distance themselves, with artists such as Dr. Dre, Nas, Sisqo and P. Diddy speaking against him. Kelly's last album, a joint effort with chart-topping rapper Jay-Z, was a commercial flop because Jay-Z refused to tour, make a video, or do any interviews with Kelly after revelations about the videotape.
After the child pornography charges surfaced, several radio stations across the country pulled Kelly's music from their play lists.
Kelly said Friday he eagerly awaits his day in court. But none of the associates who broke from his camp in the last few years are optimistic about the outcome.
Said one of Kelly's former personal assistants: "I really don't want to see him go to jail; I really don't. He should have confessed all of this when he had the chance and gotten some help."
The former dancer said: "I don't want him to go to jail, but there has got to come a point when you take responsibility for your actions, and that time has come."In the song "I Wish" from his last solo album, the gospel preacher seemed to predict the day that has now arrived for the sexual super freak. "And now you hear my songs the radio is playin'," Kelly sang. "Oh I can't believe my ears and what everybody's sayin'/Boy, I tell you folks don't know the half.
I AM SO................. Upset and SAD
Senator Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with brain cancer.
OMGosh, I could go on-and-on about the Kennedy's. I personally watched little John-John salute at his father's casket as it passed the US Capitol building on November 26, 1963. I was in the 3rd grade.
I sat and watched Teddy's speak at the 1980 Democratic Convention, one of the three best speeches I have EVER heard. It was a concession speech. Chappaquidic had done him in. I remember that too. Jimmy Carter went on to become the nominee.
I am VERY MUCH a Kennedy follower and fan. They were the ones who made my life.
"Ask NOT what your Country can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your Country."
It turned me into a GIVER. Are you a Giver or a Taker?
How many of us "baby boomers" will remember that?
What is a baby boomer anyway?
Livesteez.com's article about Diddy's Video Post re: GLOW
SOURCE: LIVESTEEZ.com
Much to the rap star's dismay, the music critic at Entertainment Weekly was not blown away by Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" tour show, calling it "the ultimate ego-trip." A couple weeks after the less-than-flattering review and the subsequent trademark Kanye hissy, another rapper/producer has come forward and praised West's work and the tour specifically: Sean "Diddy" Combs credits the show for reigniting his love for hip-hop.In a recent video blog, Combs recounts the 1986 Run DMC concert that inspired him to pursue a life in entertainment. The mogul goes on to admit to being unimpressed by the bulk of hip-hop's current output, which has caused his love for the genre to dwindle. Diddy hen calls Kanye out as an exception, praising his fellow artis in what he calls a "keep-it-real moment." "I want to say thank you, Kanye, for giving me that," he says. "I'm back in love with Hip-Hop - thanks to my man," Diddy says, closing the video blog.West is currently headlining the U.S. leg of his tour with support from N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco and Rihanna. The tour has attracted a huge celebrity following with stars including Ryan Phillippe and Jamie Foxx, newlyweds Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz and Gwen Stefani with husband Gavin Rossdale, who were all spotted in attendance at the Los Angeles concert last month.Kanye was named MTV's Hottest MC in the Game recently. The top 10 list is as follows:1. Kanye West2. Jay-Z3. Lil Wayne4. Rick Ross5. Snoop Dogg6. 50 Cent7. Lupe Fiasco8. Young Jeezy9. Andre 300010. T.I
Much to the rap star's dismay, the music critic at Entertainment Weekly was not blown away by Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" tour show, calling it "the ultimate ego-trip." A couple weeks after the less-than-flattering review and the subsequent trademark Kanye hissy, another rapper/producer has come forward and praised West's work and the tour specifically: Sean "Diddy" Combs credits the show for reigniting his love for hip-hop.In a recent video blog, Combs recounts the 1986 Run DMC concert that inspired him to pursue a life in entertainment. The mogul goes on to admit to being unimpressed by the bulk of hip-hop's current output, which has caused his love for the genre to dwindle. Diddy hen calls Kanye out as an exception, praising his fellow artis in what he calls a "keep-it-real moment." "I want to say thank you, Kanye, for giving me that," he says. "I'm back in love with Hip-Hop - thanks to my man," Diddy says, closing the video blog.West is currently headlining the U.S. leg of his tour with support from N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco and Rihanna. The tour has attracted a huge celebrity following with stars including Ryan Phillippe and Jamie Foxx, newlyweds Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz and Gwen Stefani with husband Gavin Rossdale, who were all spotted in attendance at the Los Angeles concert last month.Kanye was named MTV's Hottest MC in the Game recently. The top 10 list is as follows:1. Kanye West2. Jay-Z3. Lil Wayne4. Rick Ross5. Snoop Dogg6. 50 Cent7. Lupe Fiasco8. Young Jeezy9. Andre 300010. T.I
The quote I just heard about Red Sox Jon Lester - No Hit Hurdler
He's not just amazing, he's INSPIRING....
The Fires in Florida are REALLY BAD
I'm going to check it all out, but I heard that they're even haveing to move prisoners somewhere around Miami. The news video I saw was really scary, looked like wind blown grass fires in a night-shot. SCARY!
Having been in the fire business for 10-years I know how dangerous fighting these fires can be, and how much manpower, in all areas it takes to put these things out.
When a fire would be declared a "PROJECT" we'd go. We would basically set up a tiny TOWN in a matter of hours. An inmate forestry camp would be called out as our "KITCHEN" and they would prepare all the meals, and many teams of inmates would also come out to FIGHT the fire. Each team would be comprised of about 10 inmates and their DOC supervisor and a DNR (Washington State Dept of Natural Resources [my agency]) would direct their work on the fire line. They'd have there own little red truck, that DNR would keep running with our former COMPOUND (an old Korean War compound where truck were maintained, fabricated, painted, fire supplies kept and distributed, stuff like that) I went to MANY a fire from there. It's now were I go to Costco almost every day.
My division and boss was the overseer of that Compound, so not only did I utilize the compound I was also responsible for making sure the place ran smooth and that all the EMPLOYEES WERE HAPPY for about eight years. My boss was a retired 30 yr Colonel from the Army Corps of Engineers. A GREAT GREAT guy. A VERY DETAILED boss, and a GREAT person to teach me everything I needed to know to start and run a nonprofit. I was his right-hand "man/woman", Oh gosh, don't get me going on THAT ISSUE...
Hey, I sleep in a 10-man tent. Give me a BREAK!! I hate it when people get all dumb about the man/woman/person thing. You're not a fishermen, you're a fisher. Sounds like a pimple. WHO CARES! Do you girls get mad if a person walks in the room and says, "Hey you guys, what's up?"
Having been in the fire business for 10-years I know how dangerous fighting these fires can be, and how much manpower, in all areas it takes to put these things out.
When a fire would be declared a "PROJECT" we'd go. We would basically set up a tiny TOWN in a matter of hours. An inmate forestry camp would be called out as our "KITCHEN" and they would prepare all the meals, and many teams of inmates would also come out to FIGHT the fire. Each team would be comprised of about 10 inmates and their DOC supervisor and a DNR (Washington State Dept of Natural Resources [my agency]) would direct their work on the fire line. They'd have there own little red truck, that DNR would keep running with our former COMPOUND (an old Korean War compound where truck were maintained, fabricated, painted, fire supplies kept and distributed, stuff like that) I went to MANY a fire from there. It's now were I go to Costco almost every day.
My division and boss was the overseer of that Compound, so not only did I utilize the compound I was also responsible for making sure the place ran smooth and that all the EMPLOYEES WERE HAPPY for about eight years. My boss was a retired 30 yr Colonel from the Army Corps of Engineers. A GREAT GREAT guy. A VERY DETAILED boss, and a GREAT person to teach me everything I needed to know to start and run a nonprofit. I was his right-hand "man/woman", Oh gosh, don't get me going on THAT ISSUE...
Hey, I sleep in a 10-man tent. Give me a BREAK!! I hate it when people get all dumb about the man/woman/person thing. You're not a fishermen, you're a fisher. Sounds like a pimple. WHO CARES! Do you girls get mad if a person walks in the room and says, "Hey you guys, what's up?"
Monday, May 19, 2008
Red Sox Jon Lester (a lefty) Throws a NO-HITTER
Just Do It!
San Antonio is up by 6 with 3:10 to go ~ 81-75
New Orleans just fouled Tony (Eva Longoria) Parker.
Chris Paul is looking like, who me.
OMGosh....
I'm rooting for SA... I like Timmmmmmmyyyyy. I have followed his career, since the Admiral had him shooting hoops in his driveway back in the day. The "day" being when Tim Duncan was a rookie.
OHHH, vous petite Tony.... He just hit a 2 to put the Spurs up by 5 with about 30 seconds to go.
It's basically over, I'd say. 89-82 with 25 seconds. But, it's sad to lose in 7 at home, "all on the shoulders of Chris Paul," they just said on TV. His BIG BEAUTIFUL BROWN eyes looked like they were going to well. :(
Congratulations to San Antonio... Onward to LAL..
Chris Paul is looking like, who me.
OMGosh....
I'm rooting for SA... I like Timmmmmmmyyyyy. I have followed his career, since the Admiral had him shooting hoops in his driveway back in the day. The "day" being when Tim Duncan was a rookie.
OHHH, vous petite Tony.... He just hit a 2 to put the Spurs up by 5 with about 30 seconds to go.
It's basically over, I'd say. 89-82 with 25 seconds. But, it's sad to lose in 7 at home, "all on the shoulders of Chris Paul," they just said on TV. His BIG BEAUTIFUL BROWN eyes looked like they were going to well. :(
Congratulations to San Antonio... Onward to LAL..
Sunday, May 18, 2008
So.... it's going to be the Detroit and Boston!
I loved KG at the Press Conference when they asked him what the game plan was. He's just sitting there with his head down as question after question goes to Paul DUH...Paul Pierce only scored 41 points out there today. GAME SEVEN, DO-OR-DIE, WIN or clean your locker and GO HOME....
KG said, "You saw the game plan, get the ball to Paul and get outta the way. No really, get the ball to Paul and get outta the way."
I loved KG at the Press Conference when they asked him what the game plan was. He's just sitting there with his head down as question after question goes to Paul DUH...Paul Pierce only scored 41 points out there today. GAME SEVEN, DO-OR-DIE, WIN or clean your locker and GO HOME....
KG said, "You saw the game plan, get the ball to Paul and get outta the way. No really, get the ball to Paul and get outta the way."
That's One Happy CELTIC!
Boston's up 67 to 59... LeBron and Cleveland are not going home without a FIGHT I'm sure
Well, this is IT. Game SEVEN...
Fourth quarter coming up here in 1:55. KG's at the line and it's now 69-61 Celtics. EI YI YI...
What a series. I did all my yard work this morning so I'd be ready by 1:00 to watch this game.
Now, it's a 4 point game.
I'm OUTTA HERE. Too much stress, and I need food! I'll post the cool pics later.
Fourth quarter coming up here in 1:55. KG's at the line and it's now 69-61 Celtics. EI YI YI...
What a series. I did all my yard work this morning so I'd be ready by 1:00 to watch this game.
Now, it's a 4 point game.
I'm OUTTA HERE. Too much stress, and I need food! I'll post the cool pics later.
OOOPPPSSS!!! to WHAT's UP at MY HOUSE.....
That was Sue Simmons, NBC News Anchor, just so you know. Insiders say she has a "drinkie drinkie" issue between on-air shows, going down to a local eatery. An employee said, "She comes in between shows. She doesn't get sloshed sloshed, just HAPPY." The one article I read said her drinking is noticed by the other staff.
I'll tell you what. If I worked with someone who talked to ANYONE like that, and I found out they were drinking during the day/on the J.O.B., THEY'D BE GONE TO TREATMENT RIGHT NOW!
Now, besides the substance abuse issue, I AWAYS say.... "You have to know when and where to cuss." I told my boys when they were little, "If you guys cuss outside with your little friends that's one thing, BUT if I EVER hear a bad word out of your mouth, or if you EVER say a bad word in front of one of my friends you little rear ends will be mine!"
I now think that was a really good way to do it. It gave them freedom to make choices. To figure out for themselves when it was appropriate. And, they really followed it, surprisingly, because I had quite the potty mouth. MAN be around me during a football or basketball game and HOLY COW, "GET THAT M****F***"
Now, I think Ernie got two bad spankings in his whole life. Once for stealing a $5 bill out of my purse to go to summer camp in the 1st grade, (I pulled the car over on E Bay Drive and gave him a whoppin' right then and there,) and once for standing in a mud puddle up to his shins in his brand new $30 tennis shoes in about the 2nd grade. (I was barely making ends meet back then and that was probably the first pair of relatively expensive shoes I'd bought him and the next day I drive home from work and there he is standing in a mud puddle, I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. I LOST IT, SPANKED HIS BUTT!)
Of course I did an occasional paddle on the butt when they were little, but I WAS NOT a spanker. The way I parent, I just don't find it necessary. I got into a battle with one of my grandson's mother's last year about her beating my 5 year old grandson with a belt. I told her I would call the police on her if she did it again.
I HAVE THE TIME OUT CHAIR! (AND, I rarely have to use it!!!) One minute per year. If they're 3-yrs old, then three minutes on the chair. It's real cute. A little chair that sits in my extra bathroom, it has a little boy painted on it with a band aid on his face. He just looks like a little bada**.
I take care of A LOT of kids. Kids from my Moms' House & YUP! programs. My friends' kids come hang out with me. I babysit. My whole house is a house for kids. Kids of ALL AGES, from infant to 20's. PlayStation to playpens and highchairs. A pop-up book collection, huge choices of arts & crafts, coloring books to computers with accounts paid to download unlimited music, MP3 players and CD, DVD burners to take home 10-20 new CDs with all the NEWEST "joints".
Moral of THIS story..... Don't USE alcohol or drugs at WORK!!!!!!! You want to be in your BEST FRAME OF MIND when you are at work, ALWAYS. People depend on you!!!!
2) Try not to cuss at all, but if you do you HAVE to KNOW when it's appropriate and WHEN IT'S NOT! (And, if you are sober it's easier to differentiate!)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
BIG Brown Wins Preakness ~ Onward to the Belmont
Affirmed was the last Triple Crown winner in 1979. I remember Seattle Slew, I think I may have even gone to see Seattle Slew at Longacres. Longacres is Long Gone. Now, it's Emerald Downs. Down the road a bit. (Southbound SR 167 from Renton heading toward Puyallup)
Emerald Downs is near Auburn. It's the Seattle area's new (like 10 years new [geez time flyz]) horse racing facility. It really is BEAUTIFUL, but it's probably been 20 years since I've been to the track.
I used to go to Longacres with my first husband, back in my "TEENS", yes I was married in my "TEENS", crazy to think about now. My mom's boyfriend hung out at the "TRACK" he was "ITALIAN" and "rich" I guess. So, we'd all go to the track quite often. I'd also go to the TOP FUEL/DRAG Races. My mom's secretary's husband was on a top fuel crew and her sister was the girlfriend of JERRY RUTH. Crazy thinkin' 'bout all that...
Jerry Ruth was a top fuel driver, and one of the best. It was SO COOL getting to be in the pits with all the drivers and COOL people, geez I was barely 13, 14 years old. Robin & Lenore (the two sisters) both had kids and they had their kids in my swimming classes for years. (I started teaching swimming when I was just starting seventh grade, and continued for a total of eight years.) BLAH BLAH BLAH.....
There I go reminiscing..
I'll be watching in 3 weeks at The Belmont. Maybe we'll have a NEW Triple Crown WINNER!!
Emerald Downs is near Auburn. It's the Seattle area's new (like 10 years new [geez time flyz]) horse racing facility. It really is BEAUTIFUL, but it's probably been 20 years since I've been to the track.
I used to go to Longacres with my first husband, back in my "TEENS", yes I was married in my "TEENS", crazy to think about now. My mom's boyfriend hung out at the "TRACK" he was "ITALIAN" and "rich" I guess. So, we'd all go to the track quite often. I'd also go to the TOP FUEL/DRAG Races. My mom's secretary's husband was on a top fuel crew and her sister was the girlfriend of JERRY RUTH. Crazy thinkin' 'bout all that...
Jerry Ruth was a top fuel driver, and one of the best. It was SO COOL getting to be in the pits with all the drivers and COOL people, geez I was barely 13, 14 years old. Robin & Lenore (the two sisters) both had kids and they had their kids in my swimming classes for years. (I started teaching swimming when I was just starting seventh grade, and continued for a total of eight years.) BLAH BLAH BLAH.....
Congratulations BIG BROWN!!!
There I go reminiscing..
I'll be watching in 3 weeks at The Belmont. Maybe we'll have a NEW Triple Crown WINNER!!
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