Remember the one that got away? Or how about the one you just could never seem to get it together with or for? Were you really trying to put your best foot forward to try and make it work?
Take a listen to this dusty from yesteryear that used to smooth out your speakers.
On the platter today is Champaign with, “How ‘Bout Us”.
Here’s one of my favorites from days gone by. It’s by a group called One Way out of Detroit. They are one of those groups whose name I had heard but could never associate them with their songs on the radio. Glad I finally made the association on this one. And if you were wondering like me then I’m happy I helped you make the connection too.
Take a listen and save a new fave. This is One Way and the song is, “Something In the Past”.
This one was easy. M.C. Hammer got me going many-a-day on Tuskegee’s campus. Had to get motivated from that old cinder block dorm in Alphabet City to the engineering building to ingest all of those equations (LOL).
Hammer don’t hurt ‘em!!! Whoops, collegiate flash back.
Hope you enjoyed tha jam. Want more? Check out these bloggers and see what they picked for today’s meme. Want to join in the fun? Add your name to that list and save this link to keep up with each week’s music category.
What if Steve McNair had read my post from March of 2008 on restricting your sexual appetites. Do you think it might have helped? How about the one I wrote on basic estate planning from February of last year? Might his wife have not been left with such a big mess to unscramble today? It’s not important whether or not he would have actually read either of my posts in particular but might he still be alive today if he had heard and listened to similar advice from someone?
And what is it with the never ending source of naive young girls who think their sexual talents are so golden that they can convince husbands to leave their wives? News flash. For any young lady reading this there is a reason the “other woman” is also referred to as “the chick on the side”. You’re a sexual side dish. PERIOD. Nothing more. The wife is always the main course. That’s the way it works and you have no hope of replacing her so don’t waste your time fooling yourself with any other expectations.
This situation was bound to end badly. Remember, when the car was stopped by the police, they let hero Steve go home and he let his side dish go to jail and take the rap by herself so he could save face. That’s the kinda thing that will motivate somebody to pull a gun and do you in.
Among other things this unfortunate story is definitely a lesson in estate planning. It is pit-i-ful how this part is turning out in the news. It’s debatable as to whether a will exists. Apparently Tennessee estate law has kicked in so that things can be divied up amongst all parties involved.
Didn’t leave a will? If this is so, what was he thinking? No wonder the mother of his children from a previous relationship is in the news about getting her part for her kids. Steve didn’t handle his business like a professional. What a mess. What I’m wondering is if there really is a document that simply hasn’t come to light yet. Hopefully for her sake the widow Mechelle McNair – knowing her husband’s ways – straightened him out and made him write a will so as to not be left in the lurch.
I also hope he was smart enough to take out a completely separate life insurance policy on himself with his mother as the sole beneficiary. No reason to leave the matriarch wanting. And hopefully she has a good relationship with her daughter in law so that the kids can continue to develop their relationship with grandma.
Enough about mom and old girlfriend though. What man at his level of income and exposure to the most respect financial advisors doesn’t do basic estate planning to provide for his own wife and kids? Could an All-Pro quarterback have been that stupid? What was his agent doing? The jilted wife Mechelle who – let’s face it – was probably no dummy and knew what her husband was doing, has been named administrator of the estate. If there is to be a legal battle then she will hopefully reinforce her position for obvious economic reasons. She has children to raise on her own now.
And those of you who think Steve’s previous woman with his two older kids is owed something you really need to be serious. Unless probate law in a case like this forces her to do so no wife has any moral or spiritual obligation to to take care of a husband’s previous family and outside children. Since he made the choice to have those other kids with that other woman before he got married he should have handled that when he was here but he didn’t. Yes, it is a shame – not for the woman, but for her kids – if the other children are negatively impacted but it should not Mechelle McNair’s problem. If the other mom didn’t save up and invest her cake slices, again, her problem.
Of course he wasn’t expecting to be executed by his late side piece, Sahel Kazemi, so our man Steve probably thought he had all the time in the world to work it out and keep the second family hushed until the kids were of legal age. What kind of ridiculous drivel must this woman’s friend’s be feeding her head right now? Be smart lady. Leave it alone, live right by your children from this point forward and call it a hard lesson learned.
Here is the lesson for the rest of us in the end. Fellas, keep your penis in your pants and ladies keep your legs closed except for the person you are married to or who you will eventually marry. There are no detrimental consequences to such a life style.
Sure, it sounds old and fogey to many of you but I urge you to consider it seriously because somewhere on the other side of eternity a very young and very dead Steve McNair is wishing he had lived a more disciplined life. Are you?
Share your thoughts and let’s hear what you think about it.
No I’m not talking about the Elton John classic referring back to the Colonial days of freedom fervor in Pennsylvania but a more modern incarnation of that spirit.
In case you missed it, Philadelphia, Mississippi recently elected its first ever African American mayor. I think Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner might be in heaven doing a dance with Dr. King over this one.
Read and listen to the story about how new mayor James Young recalls the fearful, hateful days of the Jim Crow south and the 21st century route to overcoming the past.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
His election has elicited an international reaction of joy similar to that of president Obama’s feat. Congratulations Mayor Young.
We had a good time at the DuSable Museum of African American History’s annual arts and crafts festival last weekend. After a good day of church last Sunday morning it was time to spend the afternoon exploring another of Chicago’s numerous cultural gems.
There were lots of artists showing their various traditional paintings, multimedia paintings and crafts, wire sculpture and all other varieties of the visual arts. There were the vendors of African and Carribean scents, creams, soaps and clothing. One guy had a nice collection Negro Leagues baseball paraphenalia.
Some of my new favorite artists who were on the grounds showing their wares were Lindsey E. Bates and Clifford Contreras as well as retired art teacher, now full time fine artist, Ionis Bracy Martin.
The Museum itself was open as well (free on Sundays) and has expanded significantly since the last time I was there years ago. There are many great exhibits on the inside including displays on the great African empires through history and their rulers.
There is an outstanding military display. One exhibit shows the personal effects of a Black doughboy (nickname for an American soldier during WW I) who served during the Great War. Another has civil war cutlases and a print of a Revolutionary War era cartoon showing a Black soldier in line with the troops during the country’s original fight for freedom.
Did you know the first Black astronaut was a Chicago native? Unfortunately Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., died in a plane crash during a training flight and never made it into space. The honor of first African American astronaut to make a mission would go to Guion Blufford years later in 1983.
Other cool exhibits included a display of the original Regal Theater before it’s demolition with actual artifacts from the site including a short row of theater seats and some of the sculpted masonry from the sides of the building. There’s a Harold Washington annex that includes an animatronic version of Chicago’s first Black mayor along with other great info on his historic administration of the city.
I won’t give it all away. You’ll just have to make it a point to go and see all the great info for yourself one day. If you do it soon you can take advantage of the “Two museums for the price of one!” program. The DuSable has a new partnership with the Adler Planetarium and Science Museum on Lake Michigan directly on the city’s lake front. I’m happy to see both institutions expanding their cultural customer bases with intention. You can join the program at either museum or on either of their websites and get all of your Black history and science education in one fell swoop.
What? You’re not here already? There’s still plenty of summer left. C’mon and swing through the Windy City and take in the best the midwest has to to offer.
This was the title of the sermon from Pastor James Meeks of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago a few Sundays ago. For those of you who are regular members of a church you know that sometimes your pastor/bishop/elder has to preach directly to their parishoners to help them get back on track. This could be for any number of reasons to get the people realigned on some spiritual or practical life matters. On this day Rev. Meeks told us visitors and telecast watchers that the “No Exemptions, No Excuses” sermon was for his people, those that call him pastor. The rest of us were welcome to take from it what we would. He had me hooked. No nonsense straight talker.
He continued by saying that there aren’t many statements that cover all the people all the time. There are exceptions to everything except this one thing, that thing being death and its eternal repercussions. He made references to the recent spate of well publicized deaths including celebrities from Farah Faucet to Michael Jackson and Ed McMahon, and the lesser known among us like the people who died in the Washington D.C. Metro train crash, and local deaths including Jada Justice and Chasity Turner here in Chicago.
These were the reference scriptures for the day (New International Version):
John 1:12 (I include verse 13 for context)
12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent,[a] nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 3:16-18
16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.[b]
Romans 10:9, 13 (I include verses 10-12 for context)
9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”[a] 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[b]
——————–
Rev. Meeks emphasized another key point. The Christian faith teaches us that those who haven’t accepted Jesus as their personal savior will spend eternity separated from God. If you don’t agree, that’s fine but it should be the teaching of every new testament church and any church not teaching this is a cult.
The only possible exceptions to this rule are youngsters who are not able to make profession for themselves. In this case it’s just one of those mysteries of God. There are some things in His infinite wisdom that He keeps to Himself.
Other good reminder thoughts he shared are that we can’t alter the Bible to fit our own personal situations. He also referred to the thief on the cross, I believe in with respect to the timeliness of salvation.
Then he made a really good point about the fact that no preacher (or any other believer for that matter) can put anybody in heaven or hell. The Bible places our final destination squarely in God’s hands…
Hebrews 9:27
27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment
——————–
So those of you who may have a problem with it, take it up with God directly and not with the person who is trying to help you by witnessing to you.
For you believers who sometimes fall for that particular guilt trip or others that you may hear, don’t use it as an excuse to stop sharing the word. You may just have to find your own unique, effective way of doing it but saying nothing when the urge hits you isn’t an option. The reason why is that the blood of the unsaved is on our hands if we don’t make the attempt (Ezekiel 33). The key verses are 1 – 6 but I encourage you to read the entire chapter to get the full emphasis on the concept.
Next Rev. directed his attention to the under 40 crowd stating that wealth and popularity are not synonymous with peace and happiness. You can have all that and find out that it’s a nightmare. He closed his thoughts on pop culture by reminding us that Susan Boyle was in a mental home for three days after winning Brittain Has Talent. He then reminded us that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Recall that His first words after the resurrection were “Peace unto you”.
I enjoyed the service overall – Salem has an outstanding choir and praise & worship team – including the sermon that wasn’t intended for us visitors. I got the message he was trying to get across so thank you kindly for the good instruction Pastor Meeks. We will definitely visit again. If you happen to be on the look out for a new church home in Chicagoland I highly recommend that you consider the Salem Baptist family. And where ever you are or where ever you may land in your search, remember what Rev. said…no exemptions, no excuses.
One of my favorite sports shows prior to the ESPN “all sports all the time” era was a Saturday morning show featuring a manager who coached against my hometown Cardinals, a retired catcher who called games against my Red Birds in his playing days and baseball’s most popular mascot from San Diego. If you were a little leaguer when the Bad News Bears movies were popular then you probably loved watching Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, former Reds catcher Johnny Bench and the San Diego Padres Chicken make you laugh while teaching baseball fundamentals on The Baseball Bunch with their weekly all star guests.
The post title is the refrain of the show’s jingle…”I got a hunch you’ll love the baseball bunch”. In this clip a Cardinal finally made the show. The kids sang the Wizard of Oz song which was the genesis of Ozzie Smith’s nickname, an example of the magic he performed on the infield. The Chicken is really helpful with his antics isn’t he?
I was in high school when this episode aired, honing my own skills as a middle infielder. Didn’t reach Ozzie level but he was definitely a great defensive example to shoot for. The closing credits show some of the other stars of the late 70′s and early 80′s who made the show a blast to watch before the game of the week came on later in the day.
This brings back great youthful memories. I bet it does for many of you as well. If you’re a coach or you have a kid who plays now, share these clips with them for a little history(look at those old uniforms), some really good major league instruction and of course the laughs.
© 2012 MartyBLOGs. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by WordPress. Designed by 