A Recap of 2012 in Four Minutes!

"A Nigger on a Horse!"

One down and six more movies to go...but the list is growing!   Saw "Django Unchained" on Thursday...and thus the title of this entry.   Those of you who have seen the movie will get the point!   Yes...I'm sure that the title of this entry will not sit well with a lot of folks...but I've expressed my opinion/thoughts about the "N word" before.   On the other hand, if I'm driving through Mississippi and pulled over by a state trooper, and referred to as a nigger...we got a whole 'nother story to tell!   But I digress!

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this movie!   I cringed at all the bloodshed and horrific violence and man's inhumanity to man!.   I often hid my eyes from some of the more violent scenes! But then again, I laughed out loud, along with the audience, at Mr. Tarantino's play on his unique sense of humor.   I even laughed out loud during some of the more violent scenes, but then again, I shed a tear or two and often smiled a lot at some of the more subtle nuances that many black folks can relate to or have experienced.

All the performances were amazing.   Samuel Jackson may go down in history as the most vile "Negro" depicted in the movies.   As the saying goes..."nobody will do it to you like your own"!   I'm disappointed that he wasn't nominated for a Golden Globes or perhaps a SAG Award...but there's always the Oscars!

Epilog:
Lifelong friends were visiting and wanted to see "Django Unchained."   The Mrs. didn't go with us (my two daughters and son-in-law) last week...so she and the visiting friends went to see it today!   I decided to go along as well and see it again.   I enjoyed it as much...if not even more so than the first time!   Different town...different audience (we were the only black folks in the theater)...but the audience's reaction was practically the same as last week!   My biggest disappointment is to learn that Samuel L. Jackson has not been nominated for any awards!   IMHO...he stole the show!

UPDATE:
Check out my latest entry "Unchaining...Django Unchained"

Add another "IST" to add to the List!

I get a call from my oncologist (cancer dude).   Based on my most recent blood tests, he's somewhat concerned about my sugar levels.   "Nothing to be alarmed about...just a little bit elevated."   "But to be on the safe side...I'd like you to see an endocrinologist (diabetes person)."   "And while you're at it...make an appointment with this nutritionist!"   Just another "IST" to add to my list.   So here's the latest recap on my ever growing "ist" list!

• oncologist...cancer dude
• urologist...kidney & urinary dude
• internist...I used to refer to this person as my doctor!
• cardiologist...heart dude
• gastroentologist...stomach dude
• allergist...allergy guy
• dermatologist...skin guy
• nutritionist...am I eating right?
• endocrinologist...diabetes person
• orthopedioligist...bone & muscle dude

Hopefully...there will be no more additions to my "IST" list!

Newtown, Connecticut & the 2nd Amendment

The 2nd Amendment:   (as ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State)

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

I was curious to find our what kind of “arms” I had the right to bear (back then), if I was a part of the “militia” against any possible form of tyranny.   Also note...no mention of hunting...and what exactly is the definition of a "free state" anyway?

This whole 2nd Amendment thing goes back to the 18th century!   1791 to be specific!   It was part of the Bill of Rights.   As I said before...f*ck the 2nd Amendment!   Below are images of some of the “arms” (pistols & rifles) available in the 18th century.

Okay...I can dig this!   If Americans could only buy the "arms" depicted above NOW...I'd be cool with that!   But they can't NOW and then again...I would have been a slave back then.   Walmart didn’t exist.   I would not have been able to order these “arms” “online”.   There was no online!   Hell...there was no radio!   Not even the telegraph!   There were no Glocks and no AR  15s!

I just don’t understand it and never will!   But Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the NRA, has the answer!   According to Mr. LaPierre...“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.”

America...the so-called "greatest country on earth" has 5% of the world's population and 50% of the guns!   Go figure!

If you're watching this...the world didn't end!

The (NON) End of the World!

Google's - Year in Review! Awesome!

Dear Aunt Helene

Dear Aunt Helene,

There's good news and bad news.   The bad news...we missed your memorial service today.   We tried.   We really did.   We got up early...endured all the rush hour traffic from Stamford to the upper east side of New York City.   It took us just under an hour and a half to get there.   We had good intentions...but we missed it!

The good news...once we arrived...we were informed that we were a day too early!   I knew it was to be on the 19th...but somehow I thought today was the 19th!   Go figure...perhaps old age!   On a positive note...they could have told us that we were a day too late!

So, since we were in Manhattan, we decided to try and make the best of it.   Hey, let's go to the MOMA (Metropolitan Museum of Art)!   Okay...that works!   Get back in the car and drive from 72nd & York to 53rd and First.   Park the car there because it's cheaper to park further east/west of midtown Manhattan...versus for example 5th Avenue.   Walk the six or so Manhattan city blocks to the MOMA...only to find out that the MOMA is closed on Tuesdays!

Okay...let's walk back to the car.   As we arrived back at Park Avenue, we looked south and said..isn't that the Waldorf Astoria down there?   Yes it is!   How cool to go there and get a cup of coffee!   Lets do it!   We walk in at 11:05AM.   Lobby level "cafe" closed at 11:00AM!

We laughed at our circumstances!   What else could go wrong!   I announce that we can't come to NYC without a Sabrett hotdog (look for the yellow and blue umbrella).   We leave the Waldorf and walk the six or so blocks back to the parking lot.   No yellow/blue umbrellas anywhere in sight.   We are determined to end this journey on a high note.   We get in the car...drive around...and finally see a blue & yellow umbrella at 59th and Third (next to Bloomingdales)!   I bought two and inhaled them!

Okay...since we're in Manhattan and on our way back to Stamford, Connecticut...lets take a journey through the Bronx (to show my daughter & son-in-law) where I grew up.   Drove by 1339 Prospect Avenue, Junior High School 127 & James Monroe High School.

Now we're homeward bound!   On I95 northbound and just crossing the New York/Connecticut border (Byram). Car seems to be hesitating?   What's happening?  We're out of gas!

Dear Aunt Helene!

• NO memorial
• NO MOMA
• NO Waldolf coffee
• NO Gas!

But I did have my Sabrett hotdogs...with mustard and onions!   And we all agreed that if you knew what happened to us today...you would have had a really great laugh!

We love you!   Rest in peace!   You deserve it!

The Central Park Five!

I've got to see this.   I need to add it to my holiday movie list.

F*ck the 2nd Amendment and the NRA!

We are the most armed country in the world!   On average, 34 people are killed every day in this United States of America!   I'm saddened by this fact and today's tragedy in my home state.   I'm disgusted by our lack of any meaningful action to reduce gun violence in this country.   We can't wait much longer!   We need to act now!

Bryan Fischer...Bat Sh*ttery!

"God didn't stop school shooting because he's a gentleman who doesn't go where he's not wanted."

McCain, Graham & the Benghazi bullsh*t!

"I just think it's appalling what happened here. Appalling.   I think there are many aspects to this which...are just completely fabricated and unfair, and just not the right way to treat someone who has dedicated her life to serving the United States."

Former Secretary of State - Madeleine Albright [Source]

Obama is a secret socialist!!!

Lindsey Graham...the "People" freed the slaves!

“Is it possible for three people to genuinely love each other and want to share their lives together?   Is it OK to have three people marry each other?”

“If the people” wanted same-sex marriage, they would pass a constitutional amendment legalizing it, just as the people decided to pass an amendment to ban slavery"

"Can — can I suggest this?   Slavery was outlawed by a Constitutional amendment.   Go watch “Lincoln,” a great movie.   The people decided.   The question for us is who should decide these things?   Should it be a handful of judges or should it be the people themselves?   And I come out on the side of the people themselves.   Different people will look at it differently.   But slavery was outlawed by a Constitutional amendment.   If you want to propose a Constitutional amendment legalizing same-sex marriage and it passes, that’s the law of the land."

At the movies..."Lincoln" & "Skyfall"!

I don't go as often as I'd like.   I had a double header weekend though!  "Skyfall" and "Lincoln" are two incredible films.

I think "Skyfall" is ranks high among the best of the Bond films...total entertainment.   Then there's "Lincoln"...absolutely awesome.   Daniel Day Lewis will certainly be included in the Academy Award's Best Actor category.   This movie ought to be required viewing for every American. A complete history lesson in just over 2 hours!   It was just awesome.

Prior to these two...I can't remember the last time I went to the movies, but that's about to change!   I plan to spend part of the Xmas holiday at the local cinema.   Here's the line-up!

• Life of Pi
• Argo
• Zero Dark Thirty
• Les Miserables
• Django Unchained
• Flight
• The Impossible

UPDATE:
Saw "Django Unchained", "Argo" and "Life of Pi".   All were amazing, enjoyable and entertaining!  Still high on my "to see" list is "Zero Dark Thirty" and "The Impossible".   Back in the late winter of 1988, my wife and children vacationed on that very same beach in Phucket, Thailand!

Right Wing Tea-bagging Nutjob!

"The most important thing everyone has to understand is my voice is not going to be lost.   We’ve gotten a lot of opportunities, a lot of offers, and we’re going to make sure we continue to have that platform. [...] I’m a warrior and I’m a statesman and I’m a servant of this republic.   I’m not going away just because of a congressional race where he seems to have to cheat to beat me."

"Look, you know, God closes a door so that he can open up greater doors.   I will continue to, you know, stand up and fight for this country.   That’s my goal.   I have two daughters, 19 and 16, and I want to make sure that they grow up in a great America that provides them all the opportunities that it provided to their mother and father.   And always remember, Abraham Lincoln only served one term in Congress, too."

Dear Mr. "Tea-bagging" West,
Abe Lincoln would have never gone this low to try to win an election!   Mr. West, you ain't no Abe Lincoln!   And thankfully, you ain't gonna be no Congressman either!

Happy Birthday Terry!

Gone...but not forgotten!

Jim DeMint...Good Bye & Good Riddance!

Mr. DeMint is was among the most conservative members of the Senate.   This tea party-aligned self-described "citizen legislator" pushed for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.   He strongly opposed abortion rights and same-sex marriage, and called the national health care law and the bail out of Wall Street "unconstitutional power grabs" by the government.   Mr. DeMint, Mr. Cantor, Mr. Ryan and my favorite buddy, Newt Gingrich, were determined to undermine the Presidency of Barack Obama!

Although Mr. DeMint is gone...he’s planning to head up the Heritage Foundation...a conservative think tank.   As an aside, South Carolina's senior senator, Lindsey Graham (my other buddy), is also up for reelection in 2014, as is Gov. Nikki Haley.   That means the state will have two Senate races and a governor's race in the 2014 cycle.   I don’t live in South Carolina...but I have a few friends that live there!   I need to call these folks.

But there’s already talk that Governor Nikki Haley is considering this Allen West-like buffoon, Tim Scott, to replace DeMint.

Where do they find these people?

Benghazi...The Budget...& Lindsey Graham!

Dear Mr. Graham,
I’m addicted to the Sunday news “talk shows”   You name them and I’m there. “Face the Nation”, “Meet the Press”, "This Week" with George S....I’m there!   They are what prompted me to write this entry.   I saw you on several of last Sunday's shows and I was screaming at the T.V.!   Tim Russert (R.I.P.) would have nailed you to the wall!   I wanted to throw up!   Mr. Graham…you disgust me!

You pass judgment on U.N Ambassador Sharon Rice, and the attack on Benghazi, but where were you when the Bush Administration got warning of a potential attack on the United States by Osama Bin Laden?   Did you claim that Condoleezza mislead the American public back then?   You were silent then!   Why didn’t you subject Condoleezza to the same sh*t you are casting upon Ambassador Sharon Rice?   We lost almost 3,000 lives back then...and the Bush administration was forewarned...but not a word from you or your cohorts!   Not a f*cking word!

Then there’s the infamous budget cliff!   You bitched...and continue to bitch about the deficit…but you (and your cohorts) gave President Bush carte blanche to put TWO wars on a credit card along with a prescription drug program!   You didn’t bitch back then...but you’re bitching now about the deficit!   You and your likes signed up for this deficit!   I just don’t understand it.   Equally as scary is that I don’t understand how a good portion of the American electorate subscribe to your bullsh*t!   Or that of Mr. Cantor, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Boehner or the other bullsh*ters!   Did I mention that Mr. Cantor (along with Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan) and South Carolina Senator, Jim DeMint (pictured above by your side) met with several other Republican thugs to pledge to do whatever they could do to undermine (and destroy) President Obama’s presidency?  

I’m really sick of all of you thugs…but I’m equally disgusted that the Americans that you serve don’t see you for who you are!   You sicken me!   You and your like...really do!

• You have an "A" rating by the NRA and a "B" rating by the Gun Owners of America, indicating a strong pro-gun stance.
• You opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation
• In 1996 you voted for the Defense of Marriage Act
• You were for a climate change act, then you were against it…because of the Democrats stance on immigration? Help me understand this!

Did I mention...you disgust me!