Archive for June, 2006

GOOGLE Is The True Economy

Wednesday, June 7th, 2006

google boys

Web cipher! Thanks for taking that moment of silence with me earlier. I promise not to try to tug your heartstrings too hard again, but one of the reasons that this site exists is because my Dad believed in me enough to tell me to do my own thing when the magazine jobs that I was taking weren’t panning out. He saw the hours that I put into my 9 to 5 gig and then the time I would spend writing by hand, typewriter and computer. I was serious about getting my voice out to the world even if it meant that I would sometimes act the fool. My Dad knew how much of a joker I was and he was always trying to drill his serious sensibility into my brain. Writing and doing art projects are hell’a fun, but don’t keep the light bills paid for too many folks. I told my Dad not to worry because the new millenium was going to bring about the new economy. One of his biggest arguments discussions with me was about the ‘New Economy’.

You might have heard this term mentioned before. It was in heavy circulation during the ‘dot com’ boon during the mid 1990’s. Technology companies and their subsequent stock and mutual fund offerings were fueling this ‘New Economy’. My dad wasn’t a true believer even though there were people in his office making a windfall of money in their 401k’s by going after these cinderella corporations. My dad called them cinderella corporations because he said that when midnight struck they would turn into pumpkins. Sure enough he got another one right. My dad had this one saying that he used whenever I gave him props for being right.

He would say, “If I tell you a fly can pull a boxcar, do you know what you should do?”

Then I would say, “What Dad?” (he would NOT give his punchline until I answered him)

“Hitch ’em up!”, was his his retort.

Housing stock and new construction is where my Dad rested his retirement funds while I played around with defense contractors, telecoms and biotech companies. How in the post 9-11 world could these companies NOT be raking in the dough?!? Anything that sounded tech driven my Dad frowned upon as part of the bogus ‘New Economy’ except when in 2004 Google announced it would be going public with their company. What was this going on with my Dad? Had he come around to the quick-strike Wall Street windfall that tech companies usually delivered? I used Gmail, but I rarely ever used the Google search engine system. This is where the old man put me on…

America’s economic strength is built on a simple principal – supply and demand. The ability to link consumers with their desires is what Google specializes in. Google doesn’t provide the products because that would limit them too much. There’s no way to own a factory that makes everything, but Google knows who makes what you want. Hell, Google knows tons of folks that make what you want and if you are a savvy and disciplined consumer then you will be able to find the product and service providers that you need while saving money and time. How did my Dad know all of this when he turned on a computer almost never? He Googled it.

Since then I have used Google exclusively to search for the images and news feeds that you see linked to this site. I have even asked the tech staff to insert a button that allows you to download the FireFox browser program that I use when creating the site’s content. Google is not part of a ‘New Economy’ it is the portal to the ‘True Economy’. Thanks again Dad.

g money

Good Night, Sweet Prince

Wednesday, June 7th, 2006

Editor’s note: One year ago on this day my dad passed away. The letter below was sent to my friends because I felt guilty about my relationship with my dad. He put in a lot of work to get me to this point in my life and I wish that I could have been there for him at the moment that he needed me the most. Although I had repaired the strain that my teenage years put on that bond we had it can never make up for lost time. If you have a family member or a friend that you truly love please take a minute today to tell them that you love them. Do that for my dad and me.

I have some sad news to relay to you all. My dad died yesterday morning. He passed away due to a massive coronary failure and this was a shock to the immediate family since he has had no history of heart problems. I am more likely to have a heart attack than he was. He had been in the hospital recently for a pancreas condition but there was no inkling that he was having any heart issues since his EKG and blood pressure tests both appeared normal. On tuesday morning as he prepared himself for work he felt chest pains. He continued with his prep until about an hour or so later when he realized that he needed some help. He phoned the ambulance service and he was rushed to the hospital. Inside the hospital as he has undergoing treatment his heart stopped and the doctors could not revive him.

I am sad for his passing, but what compounds this feeling of sadness is the fact that I have never been one to accept the responsibility that is usually reserved for an eldest child. I did not have any concerns for anyone other than myself and I lived my life without the cognizance that there was someone else that was watching me and heavily influenced by my actions. I spent time in and out of jail and other troubles and everytime that I needed someone to bail me out he was always there. He certainly didn’t have to be because he wasn’t my father, and one day I told him so to his face.

CLARENCE PENN married my mom after meeting her at NYU night school. She had divorced my father, DALLAS ELLIS, two years after I was born because of his habitual drug use and his physical abuse. Mr.PENN knew that my mom had me and he accepted the responsibility of being my father. He worked hard to put me through prep schools and provide the experiences for me that would help me excel in life. In my teenage years I began to resent him because I felt that he was too demanding of me. I left my parents house at 17 after being thrown out of Brooklyn Technical High School and quitting the work-study program at City-As-School.

I spent the next ten years in a virtual detente with my father. Not speaking more than a hello and not offering more than a good bye. Even though we used my mother as a conduit for communication, we never shared a conversation. When I needed money for college because I refused to take any loans, he would send me a check for tuition through my mother. This situation may have have continued up to his death but when I was 27 he gave me a phone call.

My dad asked me to help him out with my kid brother who was falling prey to the same demons that attack most of us middle-class Black kids. The peer pressure to affirm your Blackness through criminality. Its sometimes as if our skin color doesn’t satisfy that confirmation, so then we must go into the world and perpetuate a stereotype. That my dad turned to me at this moment was a profound revelation. He could have called on so many other people that were close to him, but that he came to me for help was so humbling to me. Ten years prior I had broken his heart to the core, but here he was before me on bended knee asking for my assistance.

All I can say to you is that from that point forward I learned more about brotherhood, fatherhood and manhood than in the 28 years prior. One thing for certain is that getting someone pregnant is the most miniscule part of fatherhood. There is a value system and a dedication to principles and community. Then there is an unconditional love for family and friends. Unconditional love requires the courage and heart of a lion. This is probably why I took it for granted that Mr.PENN’s heart could last forever. I owe my father now more than I can ever repay him and that is the saddest part of his passing.

I thank you all for allowing me this moment to cry on your shoulders and for lending my family your prayers and your support.

poops n pops

BLACK PRESIDENT 1996

Wednesday, June 7th, 2006

Somebody told me that we have a Black President,
just ‘cuz he didn’t want to go to ‘Nam
and ‘cuz he smoked weed,
and ‘cuz he cheated on his old lady,
and ‘cuz he says words like ‘cuz.

But the only Black man that I know,
never smoked a joint,
fought in the war against Black America,
and did two rounds with the VIET CONG,
he was a champion for the foundation of Black culture;
FAMILY.

You won’t agree with everything he says,
but you know he will never lie to you.
That’s the only Black man that I know.

Dad.

dad

CLARENCE A. PENN III July 31, 1944 – June 7, 2005

I Blame TIGER WOODS…

Tuesday, June 6th, 2006

tiger wu

It’s been a day full of sports related posts because… well, because it’s my blog bitches! Nahh, but seriously, I can’t talk about Iraq all the time and I see so many of our most sacred social underpinnings inside the world of sports. Our most cherished stereotypes reside within the games people play. Race, class, ethnicity all come to the front when we are rooting for the home team, but not all sports are about team play. Some competition is individually intense. Tennis is one sport that comes to mind, and speaking of coming to mind, there is masturbation. I think that should be a sport, especially if you do it more than twice a day. If you do it in the stalls at your office bathroom or in a mall restroom then I think you are one of the vanguards pushing it forward. I think masturbation would be a great event for the Winter Olympics. If it went to the Summer games then you know jigs would be the only ones to medal (Jamaicans winning gold). Slightly less entertaining than tennis and way less entertaining than Onanism would be golf.

There has been a reported interest in this sport ever since ELDRICK WOODS became a ballyhooed professional golfer. It hasn’t made me much more interested in watching it than say watching cars drive in a circle for five hours. I did attend the U.S. Open at Bethpage and the Open a few years prior at Shinnecock (no b.b.), but to be honest there was nothing much to see. ELDRICK is given credit for bringing new faces into the game, but the only new faces that I can think of are women golfers and my homey JIMMY CHAN (pic above). JIMMY’s not a professional, he just likes wearing the knickers. The best new woman golfer is Asian also just like ELDRICK. Her name is MICHELLE WIE and she is only like 11yrs old, but she has man size hands and a hermaphrodite penis so they let her play against the men. She kicks azz too.

Asians are great at golf because it requires you to do complex mathematical calculations in order for you to keep score. That’s why you don’t see any Blacks playing golf. You actually have to graduate from high school and go to college in order for you to join the P.G.A. and the country clubs across America have strict rules about only letting people play that have graduate degrees. Pretty soon golf will be only dominated by Asians with Information Technology Masters degrees. You should blame ELDRICK. He’s ‘cablanasian’.

tiger sister

Blue Devils Back In Business

Tuesday, June 6th, 2006

duke lax

Haven’t we made the good people at Duke University suffer enough? It’s time to begin the healing the healing process. That’s why the Duke Lacrosse team will offer special discounts on home game ticket packages purchased by prostitutes. “Bring your bastards children out to see our sticks”, boasts University prexy RICHARD BRODHEAD.

You can buy your tickets to next season’s Duke University lacrosse games here.