"....(smacking lips)...Don't nobody go in the bathroom for about 35 or 45 minutes..." - John Witherspoon in "Friday"

I'm still digesting my Thanxgiving food - I'll get back atcha later...

"When I see [pee] coming, I move! When SHE saw [pee] coming, she stayed!..." - 8-year old Riley Freeman in defense of R. Kelly in "Boondocks: The Trial of R Kelly"

Another new show that I like - Boondocks on Cartoon Network. Maybe we truly have come a long way in terms of race and culture in America - we must have, if a show like this is allowed to come on. :-) You'll have to see it to know what I mean, but imagine a scene where Cornell West is kung-fu fighting a group of protesters, and another where a self-hating Black man sings "Don't Trust Dem New Niggas Over There" to a group of white folks at a garden party.

Classic.

Hans: "Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mister Cowboy?"
John: "Yippee-ki-yay....."
- Detective John McClane responding to the villainous Hans Gruber in "Die Hard"

Last night in my men's small group bible study, we read Joshua chapter 1 verses 1 thru 9. I came across a great verse:

"...No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you..." - verse 5

Actually, this is not the first time I've read this verse. For one, as I talked about a few days ago, I've finished reading thru the whole Bible, cover to cover (Praise the Lord!). So even tho I might not remember a verse, I know I've seen it before!

But, when I read this in my old King James Bible that I've had since I was 13 years old, I had that verse highlighted, and I could tell from the paleness of the yellow coloring, and the nearby hand-written notes on that same page, that it was a long time ago when I highlighted that verse. Problably still in my teens.

So I'm betting it spoke to me as loudly then as it does now. God promised Joshua that most people would not be able to stand up against him. (Insert sound of tires screeching to a halt) No, no, no - it actually says NO ONE will be able to stand up against him! I believe God is promising that to us today also! It reminds me of another verse that I've loved since childhood:

"The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" - Psalm 118:6 (KJV)

God assures the believer a victorious life. But why do I find it so hard to remember these promises? I tell ya like I told my group last nite, the Ricardo that remembers and believes that NO ONE can stand up against him when he's doing God's will is a different Ricardo than the one who doesn't keep that promise in mind. The former Ricardo is much more spiritually bold and confident - willing to take more risks for God. Willing to walk over into the land of giants and say, "Yes, there are giants over there, but we can still win!"

I'm going to try to start my morning Bible reading with these verses, every morning for a few weeks. Try to get it to sink in. :-)

Speaking of my small group (Men of Joy), I'm glad to finally be back meeting with them again. We took a 40-day break to participate in a church-wide ministry. That was a loooooong 40 days! I gots to have my Men of Joy fill-up every week! Big ups to the MOJ!

Inigo: "Who are you?"
Westley: "No one of consequence."
Inigo: "I must know."
Westley: "Get used to disappointment."
Inigo: ".....okay"
- Inigo & Westley during their sword-fighting scene in "Princess Bride"

I just met a new, random brutha last week. Turns out, we have all kind of people in common that we know.

I'm going to a party this weekend / Yeah, I'll be there, too, cuz I know so-and-so.

I've got a friend that does what you do / Yeah, I know him too, we were hanging out last weekend.

What are the odds? I guess it really is a small world. Be careful what you say with folks you don't know - you might know them more than you thought you would. And they might know you, too. :-)

"...Yeah, this is a story of a famous dog
For the dog that chases its tail
will be dizzy
These are clapping dogs,
rhythmic dogs
Harmonic dogs
HOUSE DOGS...." - George Clinton in "Atomic Dog"


I read a post from a friend of mine today where she talked about her dog. It made me think of my babies. :-) We gave them away a couple of years ago. Selfish reasons - we didn't want them messing up our new house. :-( Seemed like a good idea at the time, and even tho I've got less time now than I did then to take care of some dogs, I still miss them from time to time.

So I guess that means stay tuned for future posts where I tell fun stories of the antics of my two puppies (I know, the pictures make them look big & bad, but they're just some lil' puppy dogs IMO) - they're names were Crunch (aka Captain Crunch) & Mansa.

I'm pretty sure Mansa (Rottweiler Shepard mix) was a human masquerading as a dog - he was way too smart and crafty. Every day I just expected him to finally speak and say "Hey, Ric. How's it going? I'm hungry, dude."

Crunch (Boxer) was a brave soldier. Never aggressive to anyone, but I've seen scenarios that made me believe he would "take care of" anybody that messed me with me, my wife, or even his buddy Mansa. Like the time I had a helium balloon hanging in the living room. Crunch was SURE that this was the Enemy. He snorted and stood perfectly still and alert, watching it unwaveringly until I finally took it away. (Meanwhile, Mansa had run into the kitchen like a little b... well, you know what i'm saying.) :-)

more to come.

"...But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you...." - John 14:26 (KJV)

This morning I came to the end of a very long journey - I finally finished reading the Bible from beginning to end (Genesis to Revelations, in order)!

I started almost 2 years ago I think (or maybe it just seems that long). The journey began when I signed up for a Walk Thru The Bible class, where in 1-year we read thru the Bible, 3 chapters a day. I quickly fell behind. I soon dropped out.

But....

SIDENOTE: (don't you just love the word "but"? Especially the way it's used in the Bible:
- "Man is sinful in nature, and destined for damnation. But...."
- "Daniel was in the lion's den, about to be eaten. But...."
- "They threw the 3 Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace. But...."

But, even tho I dropped the class, I kept reading on my own. Not 3 chapters a day, but I just kept going at whatever pace I could handle. Eventually, thru both practice and by wanting to put God first, I started habitually reading at least 1 chapter every morning, AS SOON as I woke up (no breakfast, no shower, no teeth brushing). They say it takes 30 days to develop a good habit - it's true. Now, I do it unconsciously - I don't have to try to remember to read in the morning - IT'S THE FIRST THING ON MY MIND!

Long story short, I kept reading, and now I've read the whole Book all the way thru. It's a good feeling.

Word of advice - if you're trying to get thru the whole book, use something like the NIV version. There's no need to struggle with King James English when you're just trying to get some Word in you. Now that I'm thru the Bible, I can go back and tackle the intricacies of KJV. But to get the meat of the matter - give me modern-day plain English.

But I digress.

I also feel a little more spiritually confident also. A good friend of mine, who also read the Bible all the way thru, reminded me that the best reason to do it is this: if the Spirit is going to bring something to your remembrance to help you in your situation, he can't pull out of you what's not there! Now that I know that I've seen every word in the Bible, I feel like the Spirit is better able to use me. No, I don't have a lot memorized. I don't understand everything I've read. But it's a start. And it's the stepping stone to my next level of spiritual development.

"...If you're not in the paper, you're not popular!..." - policeman pulling over Sean Paul in "Police" skit, "Dutty Rock"

Am I the only one that thinks that folks are going a little overboard with the whole death of Rosa Parks? Have you seen some of the photos of her funeral? Looks like a president died.

Speaking of presidents, they were there, too.

Everybody wants to be down with Rosa. Apparently she did something that no one else ever did. Not.

It's been done before. But apparently, if ones actions aren't legitimized in some way by the mainstream, you gets no love.

Is this a slap in the face to all the unsung heroes who did even more & bigger "I won't give up my seat"-type of actions?

Is it right to celebrate her legacy so extravagantly, as if we're really so very far from the days when we were second-class citizens? What would a New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward resident say to that today?

Hmmm. I'll just ask the questions....

"...So shall it be written, so shall it be done..." - Yul Brynner as Rameses in "The Ten Commandments"



In a million years, when the aliens come from Alpha Centauri to look at the remains of the civilization called Earth, and they study our culture by looking thru our books and archives, and watching our movies and listening to our music, I bet they'll be amazed at how powerful an effect the "N" word had on some earthlings. They'll probably laugh....

"...There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing...." - Willy Wonka

My lil' nephew just finished his soccer season. I just had to travel down to Cincy to see him play in at least 1 game. It was just the most adorable thing I've ever seen. :-)

Of course, at 4 years old, none of them really have much of a concept of what they're doing. It's mostly a lot of running indiscriminately, with a ton of confusion. One kid is usually kicking the ball, with the other 9 kids wondering why all the parents are suddenly shouting at them.

In fact, the biggest challenge for the kids is figuring out the right direction to move the ball, so they can score. No matter how much pointing and explanation the coaches give them, they seem to have already made up their mind which direction they plan on going when the whistle's blown, and it's usually the wrong direction. The coaches are good - they're very patient. They try their best to make the kids see the object of the game. To see that they can easily score if they'll just follow the directions that the coach is giving them.

I would laugh, but then I realize that we do the same thing in life. How many times does Coach Jesus tell us to go one way in life, and we're so anxious to go the opposite direction, the direction we just know is the right one - the direction that will never really lead us to the fulfillment of our goals in life. God is so patient with us. Even tho we're enthusiastically getting it all wrong, he makes sure that we're still staying in the game, and he keeps blowing the restart whistle to give us more chances to get it right. If only we'd listen to Coach Jesus, we'd see that we can score every time. Even if we're not good kickers - He loves us so much that sometimes he moves the whole goal into the path of our ball to make sure we make it! :-)

My nephew's next sport is basketball - I wonder what lessons I'll learn with that.....

"...I miss lots of foods. I miss fresh meat, you know...because, in Brazil we are predominately carnivores - you know, we are not vegetarians. We don't like potatoes - we like meat! Fresh meat!...." - A zoo lion giving an interview about how he feels living in the Zoo, in "Creature Comforts"

I don't eat red meat or pork. I've been that way for about 10 or 11 years. It started in college when I just decided (based on evidence) that red meat is not healthy. I was tired of knowing that the meat was sitting & rotting in my intestine much longer than, say, chicken.

So, it was a health thing at first. I had to conciously deny myself red meat & pork. But now, I can't stand the thought or taste of it. Even if I have a turkey burger that's prepared too much like a beef burger, I can't eat it. (People should really switch to ground turkey instead of ground beef - you can prepare it such that you can hardly tell the difference!)

One time I was out picking up pizza for me & my sister. Mine was mushrooms & chicken & stuff. Hers was pepperoni. Yuck!. The smell of it filling my truck was making me wanna puke.

I just thought about this today cuz I went out to lunch with a couple of guys, and the subject came up, and they asked me why I don't eat it, and I was amused by the fact that it's been so long that I actually had to think for a sec to explain why I didn't eat it anymore.

"Oh, well - I'm a carnivore. I need something with a face - bring on the meat!" was his reply.

"I ain't lyin',
girls be cryin'
cuz I'm on TV
They even bother
my poor father
cuz he's down with me..." - RUN-DMC in "Tricky"

One of my new favorite shows is MTV's "Run's House". Check it out. I'm not at all a fan of reality shows, but I appreciate the ones where folks be having some sense, and some family values. The Venus & Serena show was an example of this, and now so is Run's House.

Judge for yourself, but here are some scenes that I thought were kool in the 2 episodes that have aired so far:

• Run is talking to his high-school daughter and her boyfriend. Run clowns the kid a little for not necessarily having good goals in life, but eventually gets serious and says to the boy that his daughter is very special to him, and that the boy's intentions need to be high, like a high note that breaks the glass in the windows. Thru all of this, his daughter says nothing, but listens. To me it looks like she understands that her father is talking, that he's serious, and she listening too. I believe this is an example of how fathers should set an example for their daughters, and fill their roles as figures of authority.
  
• After talking with brother Russell Simmons about having a "birds & the bees" talk with his sons, he resolves that he should "lead by example" - walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. Good answer.
  
• Run & his wife sit his boys down to explain to them why their sister is getting a big graduation party - because she gets REALLY good grades. I liked seeing these parents make sure that their kids weren't having any issues with jealousy or feelings of neglect. During their talk, Run tells them "Life gives to the givers, and takes from the takers". He tells them to repeat it. They do it without hesitation - even the 16 year old.

Check out an episode, then hit me up with a Comment. I'd be interested to know what y'all out there in blogland think of the show.

"...I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain. At present I'm writing the definitive work on the subject. So I want you to be totally honest with me on how The Machine makes you feel..." - Count Rugen in "The Princess Bride"

I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted on Tuesday.

Yes....I know. You can stop making that face.

I gotta first give props to my dentist. That brother helped me maintain my manhood by making it as painless as possible, and keeping me from becoming a blubbering, wimpering girly-man screaming like a white woman in a 70's horror flick. I was awake the whole time, but with plenty of novocaine or whatever they use. I kept saying the same thing Busta would say - "Gimme Some More"!


You know, I had no idea that these teeth were going to be extracted by brute force. I assumed that in 2005 we had some technology that would use some complex laws of physics in order to separate the teeth from the gums. But apparently the dental practices rampant in the 1700's are still applicable today.

I had at least 2 people who were freaking me out after the fact, warning me of "intense pain", "air pockets", multi-day gum bleeding, etc. None of that stuff happend, tho. Praise Jesus. PRAISE HIM!

Cuz I don't handle pain well. I mean, I'm a Man and all.. shoot. I'm saying... I can take some stuff. 'Nah mean? But...not TOO much stuff....you know?........

"...Say Hello to my lil' friend!!!..." - Tony Montana in "Scarface"

I have 2 nephews, both about 4 years old. They don't see each other often - two different cities. I think in their whole long lives of 4 years, they've seen each other a total of 5 times for a few hours each, and we're talking many months between visits. The point I'm trying to make is, they're not best friends or anything, if there is such a thing at age 4.

They both visited a few weekends ago. That's them in the picture. It took all of about 90 seconds for them to start playing together like they were brothers who had grown up together! I'm talking loud shouting, spinning around holding hands, imaginary gunfights, coloring, sharing toys -type playing. It's like, I go to the bathroom, come out and find that they're best friends already. Wow.

I know adults who would haze you for two years before they would decide to let you be their friend. Why can't us grown folk learn how to build relationships like 4-year olds?

"...You ask me
'Child, do you love me?'
And I say 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!'
'But will you
Just give up everything
[And] follow me?'
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!..."
- Yolanda Adams in "Mountain High...Valley Low"

The other morning I took Yolanda Adams new CD, "Day by Day" into the car with me for the ride to work.

Traffic that morning was a little slow. I got thru about 5 tracks before getting to work.

After work, traffic on the highway was a crawl. I got thru the whole CD before getting home.

Do you think God would jam up traffic just so I could have the undistracted time to listen to the ministry of Yolanda's new album? Would He do all that just for me? Cuz I sho' nuff had a lil' praise party in my car that afternoon! Yolanda be speaking to me!!

"...I used to be on floors just like you. But see...now I'm washing lettuce! Pretty soon I'll be on fries. Then the grill. A couple of years from now, I'll make Assistant Manager. And that's when the big bucks start rolling in!" - Louie Anderson in "Coming to America"

I decided to stop by my friendly neighborhood Burger King the other day for a chicken sandwich. I knew it was probably a bad idea, cuz that Burger King location is notorious for slow service. But I thought, well, it's the evening time, and I'll walk inside instead of doing the drive-thru.

I get in there, and already I'm behind two other customers. Mere seconds after entering, I could already sense that the same taking-too-long shinaningans were occurring tonite as well. The young teenage girl behind the cash register had that familiar "I hate this job" look on her face.

As she paced back and forth, checking order #s and waiting on food from the oh-so-sanitary cooks in the back room, I caught her mentioning to one of the customers in front of me that she had been working there only 2 weeks, but already she was sick of it. She was finally given a real opportunity to vent when a co-worker whispers to her, "I'm ready to get out of here."

"Me, too!", she replied. "My shift is almost over. I can't WAIT to get out of here. I'm sick of this place! As a matter of fact..." She looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. "....my shift is gonna be over in....1....2....3...4..." (counting and pointing at the clock) "....5.... in fifteen minutes!...."

...................................now what is we gon' do?

This poor child doesn't realize that she needs to be counting her blessings that she's got a job at Burger King, for there are only so many retail outlets in America that will accept an applicant who has to count the ticks on a wall clock in order to determine she has 15 minutes left in her shift. Instead of going home and turning on the TV to relax after a grueling day of fast food frenzy, she should sit down with her parents and have a heart-felt discussion about how they've failed her in the area of education and proper Burger King etiquette...

I left shortly thereafter, fearing I would be there too long. How long? (looking at my watch) ...1..2..3..4.........