I fancy myself an outdoorsman, LOL! While I am grossed out by dead fish, hooking worms, and dirt underneath my fingernails, there is nothing greater for me, at this moment, than taking in the view from a mountaintop, listening to the songs of oceans, the sun on my shoulders and sand beneath my toes. I am awed by nature. (Corny, I know.) Even the Hudson River, filthy as it is, never fails to excite me in its various complexions. And, Central Park is a constant wonder in its mere ability to thrive amidst its harsh, concrete surroundings. It is reminder of what New York used to be...before they started the chopping and building that has yet to cease.
Perhaps one day this great outdoorsman may even learn to swim ;-)
I'd like to meet:
my grandfathers, great-grandparents from both sides, and all my ancestors before that. my grand-children, their children, and their children's children for generations to come...
Music:
Click HERE to listen to my music!
All the bands that shape ME:
Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, The Doors, Neil Young, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Ted Nugent (Motor City Mad Man!), Traffic, Cream, Jeff Beck, Heart, Journey, Rush, Queen, Yes, Genesis, Santana, The Cars, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Psychadelic Furs, Talk Talk, Kraftwerk, Tool, Perfect Circle, System Of A Down, Alice In Chains, STP, Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave/Chris Cornell, Soundgarden, Gorillaz, Puddle Of Mud, The Bravery, Lenny Kravitz, Skunk Anansie, Living Color, Fishbone, Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Portishead/Beth Gibbons, Bjork, PJ Harvey, Tricky, Squarepusher, Plaid, Sade, Maxwell, Erykah Badu, Raphael Saadiq, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Michael Jackson (hey! you have to give credit where it's due), Parliament Funkadelics, Bootsy Collins, Steely Dan, Minnie Riperton, Rufus/Chaka Khan, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Dramatics, Smokey Robinson, Earth, Wind, & Fire, The Isley Brothers, Brothers Johnson, The Stylistics, The Chi-Lites, The Staple Singers, The Temptations, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Aretha Franklin, Alberta Hunter, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Phyllis Hyman, McCoy Tyner, Ahmad Jamaal, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Wes Montgomery, Horace Silver, Jean Luc Ponty, Pat Metheny, Mongo Santamaria, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Tito Puentes, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Taj Mahal, Steel Pulse, Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti, Salif Keita, Youssou N'dour, Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck, Angelique Kidjo. Although, I cannot say that hip-hop has influenced me (musically) in any way, I would be remiss if I didn't at least give props to some of the early hip-hop acts. I have also enjoyed a lot of underground hip-hop - artists whose names I do not know.....
diana ross was EVERY woman in detroit
minnie riperton was an angel!
josephine would have LOVED my jewelry!
sometimes i wonder if i could have saved her life
Movies:
Here are my all time faves - this is just off the top of my head, certainly there's more...! Please keep in mind though, that I am rarely up on the latest flicks. Sometimes it takes me two or three years to get around to seeing a movie. Again, I have NO concept of time...
- City of God
- Excalibur
- Almost Famous
- The English Patient
- Memento
- LayerCake
- Kung Fu Hustle
- Imitation of Life (the original)
- The Barbarian Invasion
- Mona Lisa
-The Professional
- Central Station
gratuitous violence, love, horror, shock, and truth - this movie is da bomb!
Television:
No T.V. for me, Thank You!!
Books:
NOW READING:
An Unbroken Agony
The Fate of Africa
Black Bourgeosie
Getting to YES
Say It Plain: A Century of Great African-American Speeches
The Gnostic Gospels
SuperLearning 2000
A History of God
THIS PAST YEAR'S READS:
- THE DEBT: What America Owes to Blacks
- Thought To Exist In The Wild: The Nightmare of Zoos
- A Long Way Gone
- Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
- The Neurological Misadventure of Primordial Man
- Morality for Beautiful Girls
- Stupid White Men
- Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About
- Let A Sista Know
- The Color of Water
Heroes:
My Mom and Dad, and both my grandmothers.
My greatest heroes are in my blood - ordinary Africans who survived the middle-passage, slavery, angry lynch mobs in Georgia and Mississippi, educated themselves and raised families on the frontlines of the civil rights movement, and did so with miraculous amounts of grace, good humor and, most of all, sanity. This is the type of sh*t that makes me get back up when life knocks me down on my ass!
My kids are my heroes too! They are a great source of wisdom and inspiration. They make be get back up too, (although they are often responsible for knocking me down in the first place :-) They are the lyrics of the greatest love song of all. Everyday.
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