What Could You Do, If Anything?

If faced with this situation, what would you do?

You are living in modern Germany, divorced with a daughter living with your ex.  You and your Ex do not get along and you feel like she takes every opportunity to make your life a living hell when she can.  Also she has a very hands off relationship with your daughter.  No curfew and such, she can do what she wants.  Your daughter is in her late teens and in post secondary school.  She is a good girl and never a problem.  Also very responsible.  You couldn’t of asked for a better little girl.  But there is one problem…Her boyfriend.

Your are not racist by any means, but your problem with the boyfriend is that he is Turkish.  It’s the cultural differences you have a problem with.  You would like for your daughter to be with a nice Christian young man (practicing Christian with good morals, like you, no sex before marriage).  Her boyfriend seems nice enough but he is a Turkish Muslim and your better judgment keeps you from seeing a good outcome in the relationship and you want what’s best for your daughter.  The general understanding with Turkish men in Germany is that they get local girlfriends to sow their oats before marrying a Muslim Turkish woman from home.  They have to follow tradition or risk losing their family.

So one day you have the opportunity to talk to the boyfriend.  You lock him in the car after taking him home with your daughter in the backseat.  You was giving them a ride.  You then question him.  Since you are sleeping with my daughter, I want to know what your intentions are.  Do you plan on marrying her?

You have giving the boy a chance to come correct.  He doesn’t have to say he will marry her but just make you and your daughter feel better about the whole situation.  He fails.  He start a list of reasons of what’s wrong with her.  She can’t cook and such.  He had an opportunity to show he is not like the Muslim stereotype, but instead reinforces your feared beliefs about Muslim men with their views on women.  It hurts your heart because you raised your daughter in the independent strong black woman type way.  Also you know if they wanted to marry he would have to go against his family for love and you now don’t see him doing that.  And even more you do believe they love each other.

Funny how often Romeo and Juliet manifests it’s self in our lives.  You don’t like the idea of your daughter being used to sow his oats and you tell your daughter she needs to look for someone else.  But she is in silly girl mode and that’s her boyfriend, the only one she has every had.  And from what you have seen he is a good guy.  Doesn’t hit her, never seen him do anything inappropriate.  He must be at least a decent guy for your daughter to love him and want to continue to see him.

What could you do, if anything?  You are not racist, it’s the cultural rules; not all Muslims, but Turkish Muslims.  Your daughter could never be accepted.  Your baby girl is with someone who using her temporarily whether on purpose or not.  How do you get around the idea of your daughter being used as a booty call while there in Germany, only to be tossed aside later?  She is 18 and doesn’t live with you, so you can’t enforce any rules.  The ex-wife is no help.  And God forbid she gets knocked up because he would deny the child and offer no support, maybe even move back to Turkey.

A few more details if you think I’m overstating the problem.  One, he will not bring her home or allow her to meet his family and they have been together for 5 years.  Two, I saw this first hand, he rerouted her phone calls to his phone.  He is remotely screening her calls.  Now if this ain’t the possessive Muslim stereotype???  Controlling.  She is scared to leave the city much less the country because of him. We are still trying to get her to come to the US where every guy would be tripping all over themselves to get with her.

More on Mom.  It’s not weird for her to be very hands off.  Apparently most German parents are very hands off.  While there I saw kids walking around 3-4 in the morning, there is very few crimes, and condom kiosks everywhere.  Her personality is laid back, no curfew and don’t punish.  Plus she has a new boyfriend.  Only rule is wake her when she comes home (no matter the time) so she doesn’t worry.

What Cha Looking At??? Got A Problem?!

As everyone knows I had a great time while in Germany.  But one thing I valued most was seeing what it is like outside of my home and culture.  There are many things I've picked up and want to add to my lifestyle.  And there are many things they can have to themselves.  But there were two cultural issues that I will blog about because I find them so interesting.

One thing I noticed immediately was the social differences.  For the most part here in the US we don't stare down people.  And when you get caught staring you either look away, speak, or smile.  Well I noticed they don't do that in many states in Germany.  So much that it bothered me, because of my culture I guess.  But after smiling at people staring me down only too get a cold response I needed to know what's the deal.  It's the 21st Century, I know they have seen a black person before.  So while over there me and my aunt would complain about the rudeness of the local people.  So one day at dinner we are all talking, we tell my uncle it's weird.  He says we only see it because of the racism in the US.  I would agree with that, when you are aware of the existance of racism you will notice it.  It's like buying an new car you don't notice how many people have that car until you buy it.  He doesn't think it's a big deal and we are making too much of it.  He goes on to say that German's love Americans.  But he says they don't like the Africans.  They feel like their country is small and has limited resources, then people come for these large country with resources and use theirs, whether it's jobs, land, or money for welfare and other social programs (Sounds familiar).  So in the same breath that he says racism is not a problem AND he declares that they have a problem with Africans.  Our immediate question was, how do they know we are American and not African???  I mean growing up in the States we can tell for the most part an African American Black (several generations removed from Africa) and an African Black person.  But how would they know?  They don't have 13 percent of their population Black.  Even the Ethiopians (they have a growing population there) there had to do a double take when they saw us there.  When were looking at places to visit in Germany, my uncle said we shouldn't go to Berlin.  I didn't understand why Berlin seems like a tourist city.  But he didn't go into details but he said it wouldn't be safe unless I was in a group.  Later looking up info on Germany I saw news reports and internet postings of racist attacks towards Ethiopians there.

GERMANY: Racist Attack Fuels Fear of Far Right
By Jess Smee

BERLIN, Apr 24 (IPS) - A brutal attack on a black German has left the victim fighting for his life and has reactivated fears about right-wing extremism in Germany.

Ermyas M, a 37-year-old engineer of Ethiopian descent, was attacked early on Easter morning while waiting at a tram stop in Potsdam in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. His assailants called him a "nigger", attacked him with a bottle and beat him to the ground.

The German citizen, who is married with two small children, was so badly injured he is in a coma in hospital.

Spurring headlines, political debate and protests by hundreds of Potsdam residents, the attack is a reminder of an unrelenting problem in Germany. Since reunification in 1990, more than 100 people have been killed in racist violence. Across German towns and cities, neo-Nazi groups routinely protest against foreigners.

In Potsdam, insecurity and anger prevail. "Until now we had an atmosphere here where residents, including black or coloured people, could go out at night without fear," mayor Jann Jakobs told the national daily SüddeutscheZeitung. "Now that has changed."

Not all Germans are racist or mean.  For the most the vast majority were not.  But the looks and rude dismissive attitudes were hard to over look.  But the real race ripple in Germany was with the Turks.  There is a good percentage of people from Turkey living in Germany.  And many German have a strong dislike toward poor Turks who move to Germany.  They say that the social services are so good that they can make a living having babies and getting welfare (once again, sounds familiar).

In a forum post entitled: WHY DO GERMANS HATE TURKS?

One lady writes:

I telly you why...
because they are rude, loud and disrispecting. Sissy pricks that are scared shitless by a fight 1 on 1, which explains why they always show up in packs. They are wannabe gangster that steal old ladies' purses and show it off like they just won an oscar for extraordinary achievements. Sad, innit?

They are not willing to become integrated whatsoever. It's not only turks... in general the islamic fuckers are getting on everyones nerves.

Oh, and since you do not know much about german history, I'm gonna help you out. We are not racists, we're patriots!!! lol
See? It's that easy.
If you have questions, shoot! My other lessons are not so free though

Now my cousins are mixed (African American and German) and one of them mention to me that they hate when people think they are Turkish because of their light complexion and straight hair. They are proud to be of African American descent.  My heart went out to him. They have to learn the same lesson on race that our mothers and fathers taught us here.

Blog Makeover Time

This morning I stumbled on a blog entry on the Psychology of Color in Webpages.  It talked about the effects of color and correlation between color and the audience.  The most interesting part was the meaning of the colors.

After reading all that I decided it was time for a blog makeover.  This would be the third or four major visual change to my blog since i have had it.  First, I went from a mostly black and hard to read site to a universal and easy to read style.  Now I wanted one with color that reflected the content of the blog.  So I wanted purple! lol. I know but I thought I could pull it off. The meaning of purple:

Purple is halfway between the exciting hue of red and the calming shade of blue. It creates a sense of mystery and rich appeal. Purple is also said to stimulate the imagination and creativity, and so it is often associated with innovation.

In Western lands purple may be associated with nobility, or spirituality, whereas in some Eastern lands purple is the color of mourning.

I hoped that was my blog but now I don’t think so.  I wasn’t able to come up with a good purple and manly theme.  So I then went with blue.

Blue can convey a sense of importance or universal appeal. Blue is the color of the sky, and therefore it is something that everyone can connect with in some way. In addition, blue is often associated with spirituality. Again this is because the sky is blue.

In Western culture blue may be associated with depression or sadness, but at the same time it is tied in with professional corporations and the "something blue" bride tradition.

I can work with that.  Also I need to not just change the color but evolve the site some so I finally made a Title for it.  The name of the blog was giving to me from Dan while was at Best Buy.  During meetings with management I use to ask them why we were doing something, the purpose for the most part.  Or questions of “what if?”  These were hard for them to answer because they did not always know why they were doing something only that they were told to do it and did it blindly.  So I gained a reputation as a problem maker because of the questions I asked.  Thus the title, They Hate Me Because I Ask The Hard Questions.  The boy in school raising his hand - is in reference to my time at Bowie State where I used to ask questions I knew the answer to only to argue and prove the teacher incorrect. Only happened in Computer Science, I’m not a smart person at all, just knew my programming languages.

Blog before:

Blog after:

Two Types of Followers

There are two types of followers for those that are leaders.  Those that follow with their heart and those that follow with their head.  The heart followers need to believe in you.  The head followers need to believe you.  When going to war or saving the sinking ship, confidence in you will channel the heart followers.  Charisma is the pulling trait.  But the head followers need to understand and believe in your plan.  Intelligence is the key trait.  The greatest leaders possessed both to command the greatest followers.

Auto Photo Face Tagging

FYI Picasa just implemented auto face recognition in the software and website.  Meaning… it can auto tag the people in your pictures.  I just finished playing with it and it is really, really cool.

More info here: http://picasa-readme.blogspot.com/2009/09/picasa-35-now-with-name-tags-build-7967.html

To Enable or Disable the new feature:

The name tags feature, which uses face-matching technology to organize your photos by face, is available in both the Picasa software and Picasa Web Albums. To enable or disable name tags, follow these steps:

Picasa

Name tags are enabled by default in Picasa. You can toggle name tags on and off by following these steps:

1. In Picasa, click Tools > Options (PC) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
2. Click the Face Detection tab.
3. Toggle the box next to 'Enable Face Detection.'
4. Click OK.

Picasa Web Albums

Name tags in Picasa Web Albums are disabled by default. Follow these steps to enable or disable name tags in Picasa Web Albums:

1. Sign in to your account at http://picasaweb.google.com
2. Click Settings at the top right of the page.
3. Click on the Privacy and Permissions tab.
4. Toggle the box next to 'Use name tags to name people in my photos.'
5. Click the Save changes button.

You can also delete name tags for specific people in your gallery or request removal of a photo or name tag on other people's albums.

Oh, man, Munich **** rules.

“Through every movie with Jews, we're the ones getting killed. Munich flips it on its ear. We're capping motherbleepers.”
”If any of us get [lucky] tonight, it's because of Eric Bana."

Yea, Munich is great.  I liked the city and the people.  Oktoberfest started the next day and the city was buzzed.  Unlike the rest of Germany, I felt welcomed.  Also the people there were more diverse and colorful.  I would go back in a heart beat.  Like here, each state and city is different.  Munich flipped my impressions of the German people on it’s ear.

Pictures:

We Was Going To The Free Zone, Hamsterdam

I am trying to forget this story, but let me try to recap for the record keeping. Those that follow me on Twitter prob heard me bitching. After Brussels, everything was lovely. We was on a natural high. We jumped on the train to Amsterdam first class and was scooting along in a private room on the train. But we get to this one stop in Belgium and they make an announcement that there will be a delay. We think nothing of it. Sitting around laughing and joking. We caught two people at the train station picking boogers in the same spot. First guy sits on the bench and picks his boogers, then another guy takes his spot on that bench and picks his but then he wipes his boogers on the seat and gets up. A lady and her child then takes his spot on the booger bench.

A few minutes becomes an hour. They announce people can go and come from the train. The power is out of line in the section of track between Belgium and Netherlands. Confusion was here by now. There was no universal language to share information. The Station displays were in Dutch and people were speaking Dutch, French, English (somewhat AND as an afterthought), and German later.  The lack of information was the theme of the night.  So then they said for us to take another train and transfer at some station.  Everyone goes to the other train confused in all types of ways.  At the first stop on the new train they tell everyone to get off and catch a bus.  People breakout running and confused, don’t know where to go to.  It just officially became the amazing race.  Running, asking questions, running again – just going in circles.  So we wait outside under a bridge for a long time waiting for buses.  This was a whole train of people going to the Netherlands, so we are talking hundreds of people.  People start grouping up together and taking taxis.  We was making friends through pain with people that spoke English, I mean we had to stick together for info because all the officials was only speaking Dutch, it hurt them to talk English, a universal language most of the riders understood.  After a long time under the bridge they told us to go catch another train they set aside for us.  We take that train only to be told to get out.  Half the people went to a transfer point only to find out the last train to Amsterdam left already.  So then there was another mad dash to the buses that was suppose to take us across the country line.  By this time we left Belgium and was in Germany.  We was one of the lucky few to get a spot on a bus.  By this time I stop helping the lady with the baby in a stroller, I was out for self.  She wasn’t smart about it and evolution say the strongest survive, that includes mentally too.  If she was smart she would take the baby out the stroller when going down steps.  My new friends was people that speak Dutch and English.

The bus drove us in to the Netherlands.  Stopped at a station where the trains were still running to Amsterdam.  The process lasted for 8 hours, the normal train ride was only about 2 hours.  We got to the hotel after midnight.  Every 100 meters (doing the Euro talk) you smelled weed in the air, every 50 meters you saw a young zombie walk by.The people at the Hotel was cool, the Hotel was cool. Amsterdam is cool.  I loved the friendliness and diversity of the people there.  I plan to go back.  I lost 6 hours of Amsterdam wondering due to a fuck up in the train system.

We had really stylish rooms that was a great change from the old grim of Paris the night before.  After finding both food and free porn on TV, we called it a night.  For the record, Amsterdam makes you horny.  It’s strange but true.  It truly is Sodom and Gomorrah.

The next morning, we had breakfast (Dutch and English Style), shopped, and went on a tour.

I wanted to punch this kid in the face.  He kept giving me the evil eye.  You can see where he learned it from.

Also hit up the Diamond Factory and wasted a lot of time there buying stuff.  Tax Free.

Pictures:

Belgium Got Bomb Waffles and Chocolate

After spending the night in Paris, I woke up fairly early to the sounds of police sirens.  oh Paris…  We dress, eat breakfast, and then walk over to the near by train station only to find out it was the wrong station.  We had 20 minutes to catch our train out of France.  The Amazing Race began.  We hustled up steps and down streets and alleys to get to the other train station and find our train.  We made it and then to Brussels, Belgium we went.  The plan was the same - find a tour bus in Brussels and bounce to Amsterdam by the evening to check in to our hotel.

The Brussels tour was the best tour so far.  Very informative and clear.  Made an otherwise overlooked city very interesting even with it’s comparatively short history.

Pictures:

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Get your own

Most Overrated: 1. Duke 2. Paris

Hey, I’m back in front of a PC! yay blogging time.  I’m get hated on for this one, but it’s ok.  So let me catch yall up.  Monday, I caught the first train out of Kassel, Germany to Paris, France.  I had to catch two trains, the first one was cool minus the morning commuter crowdedness.  The ICE train in Germany, lovingly called the bullet train.  But the second French train to Paris was the worst.  Small and mildew smelly.  Also is was packed, knees to knees.  Two buzz cut French punk looking dudes thought they was slick sitting in our seats, I don’t think the spoke english but they knew what I meant when I said those are my seat, you need to bounce.  They move across the aisle to what was probably their tight ass seats bunned with a grimy looking guy.  They was blown, I can tell because they had no room- knees touching, fidgeting, and shooting cold looks over at us.  Whatever, we go hard.

So as we got off the train, it was clear Paris is nothing like what we have been seeing in Germany.  The diversity was apparent.  Let’s be honest for a second there is a about 6 templates of the majority of German residents.  Like the Sims or a video game, you have several base types and you make small variations to them so your avatar looks different from the next person, but they all loosely look a like.  But Paris has the diversity that maybe only New York City can come close to.  It felt good.  And the people were nicer and not staring at me like there was a problem.

After checking in to our leaning hotel, the building didn’t lean, just the floors, we went to a hole in the wall restaurant near by.  The people in there was eating some kind of eggs and mayo dish and something that looked like mud.  But we played it safe and order chicken and sausages.  Sausage in normal non-fancy Paris must mean hotdog, because that what it looked and tasted like.  But it was bad, actually it was pretty good for a hotdog with no bun.  And every dish had french fries with it.  Come on, Paris, have to do better.

Because of our 3 countries in 3 days schedule we only had hour to do a lot so decided to take a tour bus, but the catch is that the tour bus locations wasn’t anywhere near our hotel.  Looking at a map and being city folks ourselves we decided to walk to.  Item on the map appear closer than they are.  But it also gave us an opportunity to get a feel for the city and people that roam it.

The tour bus was cool but GPS audio sucked and mistimed. So didn’t know what I looking at a lot of the time.  We had the option of getting off and checking out places but wasn’t on our side and was content with taking pictures from the bus.

After the tour, I had to go back to the hotel I was feeling pretty bad, my cold was at it’s worst part.  I was on top of the tour bus in the open air and it was cold and windy.  Also it threaten to rain a couple of times.  I rest for a while until the family came back the room and then decided to eat and run to the pharmacy to get something for my cold.   Because it was my parents 35th wedding anniversary, we want to eat somewhere nice.  Found several fancy looking places but picked the one that had France in the name.  Good move.  The place was great and food was amazing.  I decide to not play it safe and try new dishes so I got a duck appetizer and rabbit smothered in some kind of amazing creamy sauce with cook vegetables.  The rest had lamb chops and chicken.  Tasted each others food but everyone agreed I was the winner with the rabbit.

Pictures:

Video:

Now if you are a Paris lover then you would want to stop reading because I about to go on an unfocused rant about what’s wrong with Paris.

Paris has a lot of hype around it.  It’s a major city in the world.  As I left the train station, I thought that this is what New York would look like if placed on Mars and it was never cleaned up by the mayors.  It is hard to formulate my thoughts so let me try doing it in a list.

1. There is an odor.  They got the same NYC trash issue, that shit is on the sidewalk in front of the buildings.  So you know the rats ain’t far away. Paris is dirty.
2. Related note: The pigeons.  Them flying rats are everywhere and ain’t scared of people.  Shitting on everything.  Their number is in the millions.  I walked past the area where there was a nice arch building (would be photo op) but I couldn’t take a picture for several reasons, but the pigeons was one. There was hundred of them there.  Who the f**k is feeding them?  And it stunk over there because there was a dead pigeon in the middle of them rotting. The city needed to remove the dead animals in the middle of a heavily populated sidewalk.
3. The questionable people.  I started to question myself because I smelled a dead bird with a stuffy nose yet people was chilling in the square like there was nothing wrong. ???  Am I missing something, how could people post up and eat around a hundred pigeons and a funky ass dead animal smell?
4. Unfashionable people.  I know Paris is the fashion capital of the world.  It was clear because the people there was “trying” to do their part.  I seen rack of girls and funny guys put together some outfits.  BUT for having 600 hair stores in 3 blocks why wasn’t there one decent weave in a 30 mile radius?  I’m not a weave expert but I know what don’t look good.  The Dominicans need to set up shop in Paris.  Your clothes can be the freshest but you are, not just look, busted if your hair ain’t right too.  The African women had the messed up synthetic weaves and the racial mixed girl had nothing going on with theirs.  You know what I mean, the poor little mixed girls caught between worlds.  No one showed them or took them to a hair dresser, so they got the thicker than straight hair but try to style it like you got the easy to work with it hair.  Some call it “The White Mom” syndrome because it’s common for a White mom with a black or mixed child not to know how to control her child’s hair.  Anyway, I seen a rack of that.
5. African Men.  They are scary.  Straight terrorist.  The way they was acting I would want them out my country too (Germans, but later subject).  There is a gang of them just wandering the streets with no job, all trying to hustle.  30 bammas can not all be holding down one corner or stoop.  Yall over perfumed motherf**kers need to spread out.  When I see that many broke people gathering in one spot, I get scared too.  Normally, I would take a picture or video of foolishness like that but they was everywhere like project roaches.  I was scared to pull out anything of value.  I mean, I can take on 2-3 dudes if they tried to rob me, but I don’t know about a village or a tribe.  My hands ain’t that good.  I don’t know what they were hustling or trying to do and I wasn’t trying to find out.  I walk about 5 blocks through African territory ( main streets too, from Boulevard de Strasbourg to Galleries Lafayette) mean mugging, like I ain’t one of you, don’t say anything to me.  So for the most part I wasn’t harassed like other people walking the street.  But I did make the mistake of making eye contact with this one dude, he asked me what did I need.  I said I only speak English, he was like I speak English too.  He had some type card in his hand.  I said, I’m good and walked off.  But the thing that took the cake and really upset me was that their was like 40 African dudes standing in front of the Subway entrance waiting for people to walk out, I know was scared for them.  This one young lady walked out and they got aggressive, cat calling and following and reaching.  Like that was going to make her interested in any of them.  Where was the police?  Man, in DC it’s safer to kill a local than harass tourists.  They don’t play when it comes to the image of the city.

In all, Paris has a lot of history and other things to offer but it’s not as great as people make it out to be.  The potential is there.  But they need a good mayor to clean up the city like NYC.  Hide the homeless, clean up the trashy buildings, and reduce crime and traffic.  They need standards.  Because it’s Paris they take it for granted.  People will always want to come, but the hotel situation needs to be addressed.  The city hotels are almost always sold out like here in DC but they ask for top dollar for subpar rooms.  Maybe people give them a pass because it’s Paris, or Europe, or whatever, but the hotels need to earn their star ratings.  Fix the buildings up too.  Hey but at least the food is good.  That’s something good I can say about Paris, they have really good food even if the table is wobbly and the plate is dirty.

Ambassadors of Dance

Time to catch up from the last couple of days.  We drove a couple hours north to Hannover through the country side to get our EURail passes for the train.  Hannover is the 3rd or 5th largest German city with a pop of about 500,000.  Facts my uncle says while driving.  Had some fish and chips at the train station, believe it or not this was the first English speaking (me) to German speaking only interaction I have had so far without help of a translator.  Went over well, but my dad got the epic failure when he tried to buy a soda.  He couldn’t understand how much she said it cost and the a lady of the line came and tried to help him pick out the right amount.  Image a little kid going to the store with his allowance money and counting the pennies in the palm of his hand.  Now make that kid 50 years old and 6’2”  lol I kid, my dad.  By the way what he gave her was not enough, wrong amount. lol Let’s try it again.

I won’t lie, figuring out the change is only tough part of dealing with the Euros.  They have their dollars as coins too.  And mix that with not know how to count in a foreign language.  I been looking at the register and/or remembering the cost from the menu instead of listening to their total. 

More Pictures:

We also stopped in a small town on sightseeing course back to Kassel.  Me and my Aunt Ann are still not used go people staring at us.  It wouldn’t be so bad if they would respond when I smile or say something.  The people are so rude.  I be mugging back now.

Saturday, the change of diet caught up with me.  Not quite the BGs but a consent need to take a dump every 15 mins.  After 4-5 time I pulled out the pink stuff and problem solved along with a long nap.  I blame all the bread and cheese in the German diet.

After sleeping all day, I got the chance to taste the night life with my aunt and uncle.  It was a 30 and over disco.  There was some dancing that would put Allison’s and Jenny’s awkward dancing to shame.  There was about four or five people that were dancing hard the whole night, never left the dance floor.  And it was hot and funky.  Euro Funk aka musty underarms.  But it was a really good time, we all had a lot of fun.

Some video from the club:

This morning we rode out to a small town of about 2,000 people, there are a lot towns like that here, to what Yoshi’s track meet.  But almost there Joshua calls us any says he is not participating because his groining hurts.  We still ride out to see what’s what.  The place and track was tiny, it wasn’t a major event so I see why he wasn’t pressed to perform.  But he look sad to not be able to show off for his family. Now it's been raining all day. The weather has changed, it’s cold and thunder storming.  Now I’m feeling sick (snotty nose).  France tomorrow, maybe we can run from it.

More Pictures here:

Father vs Son in a Dance Battle

We have been having so much fun in Kassel with our German family we have fallen off out itinerary and are readjusting. It feels so good reconnecting.  Last night after barbequing we sat around and some how talking turned into a sweaty dance party.  Our family has a good time.

Hercules, Hercules

I got to check out some of what Kassel, Germany has to offer and got to see my cousins for the first time in over 10 years.  Showed them facebook too. lol.

I Made It Safely Across The Atlantic

After staying up all night and last minute shopping, we had a smooth flight over the Atlantic Ocean.  As those of you that have been following me on twitter I have seen some shit in the mean time.  I’m try to keep yall updated with Twitter but I only have 20 MB of international data transfers on my phone account.

Follow me on Twitter for live updates:  http://www.twitter.com/willwash

But when I have free time, like now, I will post and upload.

The US dollar sucks balls.  I blame the Republicans and Bush.  Tell me no lies.

Jet lag or what it’s called is a mother… I stayed up all night hoping to sleep during my 8 hour flight, but I couldn’t.  I’m a light plane sleeper and had the drunk crazy German lady in the seat in front of me and a kicking kid beside me.  And the few times when I could dose off someone would walk down the aisle and bump me.  We landed a 5:00am German time and rode down the autobahn to my Uncle’s house.  My expectations for the autobahn was pretty high.  I was blown the road wasn’t a large 4 lane high way with fresh, smooth asphalt.  It felt like I-95 with all the potholes and was narrower.  One thing I am digging is the speed but not as fast as the thought, prob because of the potholes and every car is either a VW, BMW, Mercedes, or Audi.  And different versions of them.  Here are pictures of us driving on it.

As I type this the time is only 11:00 am here and 5 am there.  My goal is to stay awake until 7-8pm to get my sleep schedule on European time.  It’s going to be hard.  So I’m blogging to past time.  Everyone else is sleep.  Check out the view for the home office I’m working from.

Also I went to the store to get breakfast bread.  Bread overload, every meal so far had a lot of bread and cheese.  And then I see why…

The guy at the store was the first friendly German person I have met, that’s not family.  Everyone else has been rude and un-courteous.  Having a slightly southern upbringing it’s not cool to me.  The lady in front of me in the plane keep throwing her trash under her seat where my feet were even after looking and seeing my feet and the stewardess saying that feet are suppose to be under the seats.  The stewardess were rude too on several occasions.  The guys at customs was throwing passports back at people.  Can only keep being nice to people but for so long, then when in Rome do as the Romans.

ok, I’m done for now maybe I’ll take a nap, it’s only 11:30.

Speak Your Mind

It was brought to my attention that the comment option was turned off on my blog.  So I turned it back on.  I didn’t notice or expect comments.  Honestly I took pride in having the best blog nobody reads.   But it’s no fair to close the option to comment since this is an opinion blog and nothing is more un-American as silencing the voice of the people; so now you can comment your heart away.

You Make the Call

I know there has been a lot of hype around the new Jay-Z CD (The Blueprint 3) and how it was leaked.  It’s not a secret I don’t be on Jay’s nuts or “sits in his lap.”  But before the fanboys get their panties in a bunch, I’m not reviewing it or making any comments.  I’m looking out for my peeps that like free music by any means that ain’t up on things.  Get before it goes down. 

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

Here's the mp3s for the ipod:
http://www.zshare.net/download/64932346915689e8/

Your welcome.

Barber Shop Advice: Go to the Red Light District

So my Barber asked me what’s going on and I said I was going to Germany this weekend, and he goes, “Ahh, Red Light District.”  LOL the rest of the barber shop chimes in talking about how good the hookers in Europe look, how they will love me because I don’t look like them, and how much easier it was than dating. LMAO.  They went in depth about the last one. 

It would cost more to knock it down by dating here.  They was dreaming of a better world where girls would tell them how many dates before they would let you hit, then figure out the cost (for things like dinner and such) then pay up front so nobody don’t wastes time.  Have to love barber shop talk.  Everyone agreed Nevada’s Bunny Ranch was not what was up.  It cost too much for girls that not even tight.  No one was willing to spend several g’s.

Then they proceed to ask everyone where have they been and how are the girls.  When one said Brazil, convo reach a high and a low.  Love for the sexual freedom of the people.  One guy had a tale of three women bent over at once, two sisters and a cousin, all getting it in at the same time.  Another guy confirmed, yup they get it like that.

“You can bang out 5 a night.”
”Will it cost you?”
”Nah, they having fun too.  They sexually free.”

But then he got real, “You’ll wake up with your dick on the pillow beside you.  And they got the highest AIDS rate.”  Finally, he warned Becky might be a Billy.  The guys look just like girls. After few jokes that deaded the whole convo.  Barber Shop Advice: Go to the Red Light District and have a brownie in Amsterdam.

Gangstas Don’t Wear Skinny Jeans

Last Saturday after some amazing seafood in Annapolis, I went to the movies with America’s favorite newlyweds, Chalmer and Crystal.  The closest theater on our way back to DC was Bowie; so we went there.  When we get there is a gang (slang for a lot) of little youngins.  It looked like school just let out and they all were hanging around.  My thoughts were: there are no adults out here and all these boys have on tight ass jeans.  Not a normal or baggy pair in sight.  It felt like the Twilight Zone.  I ain’t around high school kids that much and ones I do see are in VA and Mo County mostly.  I don’t think the epidemic is as bad there as in DC and PG County.  And dreads, high tops, and tight jeans is an epidemic.  They are like zombies all looking the same, just slightly different looking faces.  Ghetto smurfs- all with the same uniform just different names.  I agree with Crystal, I feel sorry for the younger girls; their pickings is slim.  I see why the lesbian option is starting younger and more frequently.

As good luck would have it, we missed the 9:00 3D showing of Final Destination by 10 minutes and had to get tickets to the 11 show.  This was cool because one of Crystal’s girlfriends decided to meet up with us.

In the lobby of the movie theater I saw a bomb ass display of DMV’s own Taraji Henson looking sexy.  But you should of seen my face when I read Tyler Parry’s name on it.  Chalmer saw my face and asked me what was wrong.  I said it’s a Tyler Perry movie, I was blown because I like Taraji Henson.  He understood.  I will save my Tyler Perry rant for another day, too tired to deal with the fan girls what will defend his bamma ass.

To past the time, we walk over to Friday’s and grab a spot at the bar.  Well, two of us do.  I’m not going to talk about the lady holding up a spot at bar waiting for a date that will never come.  Kind of felt bad for her even though I was talking about her ass like a dog for holding up that spot for 2 hours while people had to stand.  …But she had hot date, or what was suppose to be a hot date.

Friday’s was cool because they had $4 margaritas, long island, and mojitos. So you know we was getting it in.  And I had to get a sundae after smelling all the fudge from Annapolis’ Main Street.  But speaking of fudge and I don’t judge.  Two dudes came in to the bar and sat on the other side of us.  One looked like TI and the other, like a generic dark skinned bald head, big muscles dude with a tight ass polo; gym, model type.  The came in together but sat with a good size gap between them.  It was larger than one between Me and Chalmer and Crystal and her girlfriend, Kia,while we was talking.  So TI’s ordered drink comes it’s tall ass frozen strawberry something and little big man in a tight ass shirt get a glass of light purple/pink wine.  I turn to Chalmer and go, “They gay.”  At the same time Kia and Crystal are discussing the same thing in their convo and turn over to us and we all know we was talking about the same thing and bust out laughing.  But they was cool and silent.  I think they were either boys or on awkward ass date.  Because they didn’t talk to each other the whole time at the bar and then we saw them later together in line waiting to get in to see the movie.  Who had a worst night? Them or the chick that got stood up?

On the way back to the theater, we see a bunch of cop cars and kids scattered like insects talking to each other.  So we overhear that there was a fight.  Instantly, I’m upset that I missed it. LOL I had my flip cam on me too.  So we walk pass and the police got all the kids involved lined up on the curb.

Here’s my thing, the Hard Questions, how are you going to be gangster in middle of nowhere and in tight ass pants?  Look at what happened, they all got caught.  Let’s be honest, back in the day when we got in a fight, we got away and didn’t get caught by the police.  One, you don’t stick around afterwards.  But I guess because it was Bowie and no one lives in walking distance to ANYTHING.  So they might of gotten caught by waiting for their ride.  Two, even if they wanted to run from the police or the gang of boys wanting to beat yall up, they couldn’t because their pants are hanging below their ass and too tight to stretch.  The physics for running is impossible.  Gangstas don’t wear skinny jeans because you can’t do gangsta shit in skinny jeans.  That’s why loose pants, Tims, and an old easy to tear wife beater is the uniform of choice. LOL

No Sleep Till - Frankfurt

It’s 11:30 AM just got in the office and I’m trying to be somewhat productive in my life and use up my milk before leaving so I don’t completely waste it. Raisin Bran.  After a week of light insomnia and hard work, I am official burnt out and if I go to sleep without turning on an alarm I will probably sleep for 2 days.  This has been the week from hell with a few highlights.

Last week, the 27th, my boss came to me with at project that needed to be completed by September 10th for a trade show in Australia.  I reminded him that I going on vacation September 5th.  Well, everyone else was on vacation or already on projects.  For those checking numbers that’s about a week to finish a two week project.

So I have been putting in long hours.  I haven’t had much time for anything else like packing, cleaning, researching Europe, or Fantasy Football.  Plus my xbox misses me.

But I work best under pressure.

You Playing Yourself, Ray. No You Playing Yourself, Roe!

No matter where you go, they will always see you as a n****!

A line from Sugar Hill.  A good one at that.  Right now as I am watching Sugar Hill on cable I am reminded 1. how many levels this movie works on, 2. Black early and mid 90’s movies are way better than the Tyler Perry and 50/Cam’ron/Rapper crap we got now, and 3. I need to add more purple to my wardrobe. 

The title and first line of this entry is still true to this day.  Not even a 5 days ago I was thinking along those lines.  I was in Annapolis eating with a bunch of friends and this table behind us was making a lot of noise, but it really wasn’t the whole table it was the one token black guy in the group.  He was the most animated out of the group. His friends seem to just tolerate him because they were no where near as hyped up as he was. There really wasn’t any wrong with the scene until you started to listen to what he was saying.  He was greatly opinionated with stereotypes and spoke like he was speaking for all black people using terms like us, we, and them.  He was “playing himself.”  Made several of us at our table want to go over there shake some sense into that fool because everyone in the dinner area room was noticing him.  Sugar Hill.  You playing yourself, Ray!

The story behind Sugar Hill is great.  A man tries to raise above his past and environment.  At first he tries through illegal means and then tries to go straight. Can’t Sell Dope Forever.

Released: 1993


Go to IMDb page

Information © IMDb.com

Sugar Hill

Wesley Snipes, DeVaughn Nixon, O.L. Duke, Abe Vigoda, Michael Wright, Steve Harris,

Help for the Blog Writers

For those blog writers that hate to use the online editors, you have other options. 
 
I introduce Microsoft Live Writer (unless you already met it…)! 
 
It’s pretty easy and slick.  And you can add plug-ins like Insert IMDb info, Amazon Book linker, or Snagit plug-in to insert screenshots directly.  Even a smiley plug-in for the “bitches.”  Because bitches love smiley faces.

The Netbook Hook Up

Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows I picked up a Netbook this week. It's the tiny 3lbs laptop for under $400. I plan on using it on my trip to Germany next week. And as a computer guy I needed to pimp the weak mini laptop to my liking. Let's be honest, for $300-$400 you are not getting a top of the line notebook, but they have their purpose and make excellent supliments when used correctly. Basically surfing the web on the go and blogging.

What attracted me to this piece of hardware? It had what I needed out of the other netbooks I looked at. Samsung N120. Bluetooth for linking with my cell phone. I can surf the web on my laptop using the internet on my phone in my pocket. SD memory card reader, for my digital camera while on vacation. I don't need to lug around a usb cable. 6 cell battery. That means up to 7 hrs of cableless power. And my flight is 8 hrs.

So to get my notebook to run at it's potential, you have to tweak it. It's like a 5 year old PC powerwise but extremely portable, the size of a slim paperback book. So I made a video of some of the things I have done to improve the performance of my netbook and optimize my productive while using it. Focus is on speed, battery life, and keeping memory usage low. Some stuff is basic like diming the light of the display and removing the battery when plugged in the wall to preserve the life of the battery. On key thing is not falling in to the trap of installing a lot software, so you will see a heavy focus on Google services because it hosted online and not my PC.

Getting it in in the Kitchen

I have been doing pretty good with my New Years Resolutions so far this year.  I haven’t been writing as much as I should be but, I have been keeping an open mind, trying new things, and learning to cook.  Couple weeks ago I went on a Borders shopping spree and bought a bunch of cook books to increase my knowledge beyond the few dishes I asked my mom to show me how to make.
Couple days ago, I made my greatest creation yet- Buffalo wings!  I was bragging to my mom that was so good I could sell them and then she ask me how much was I going to pay for the cornbread (that she cooked) I was eating at the time. smh.  Always out staged.
But what made me so proud was at I have never cooked anything like it before, I had no help, and it was not only edible but tasted amazing.  I bought some party wings and mild buffalo sauce from Shoppers.  I battered the wings up with flour and spices and then let them sit in the fridge for an hour.  After pulling them out the fridge, I put an another layer of flour before deep frying.  After deep frying I allow the chicken wings to marinate in the buffalo sauce mixed with honey and half a stick of butter.  After marinating, I placed the wings in the oven to cook bake the sauce in to the chicken. 
It was so good, sweet and spicy.  Threw some blue cheese dressing on them and I was in heaven.