Joyanna Adams

Nobody's Opinion

Nobody Remembers: Levon Helm

Nobody Remembers

I had seen some great acts on this stage: the screaming of Janis Joplin, the great horns of Chicago, the electrifying guitar of Jimmie Hendricks, and the explosion of Tina Turner, who by the way, made Mick Jagger look like a wet frightened electrified grasshopper in comparison, but I had never been transformed as I was that night, the night I went to see Bob Dylan’s “Band.”

Every summer, many years ago, the University of Southern Illinois put up a big tent, and gave concerts when I was growing up.  All the greats came, but there are moments, as every artist will tell you, when the gods aline and the music is transformed into some kind of fairly dust. It doesn’t happen often…maybe only a few times in a musicians life..but when they do, you do NOT forget it.

I was in the third row, in a crowd of some 10,000, when I saw him…Levon Helm. The name fit them perfect: The Band. They were almost from another time in America, like they had stepped out of some old time Southern plantation…and so different from the rest of the groups by their sheer ordinariness, that you couldn’t help but wonder—How in the world did that wonderful full bodied sound come out of guys who look like your brother, or your mechanic down the street? The fact that they didn’t play the “Star” scene made them all the more attractive.

And I can picture clearly, everyone in the front rows, jumping up and down…to RAG MAMA RAG. I was no exception.

I can’t remember any of my thoughts from yesterday, but I can remember my thoughts at that moment of utter happiness so many years ago. At the time, I was trying to figure out just what WAS it that made this sound so joyous? I decided…as I watched the band reacting to the crowd who were all in sheer ecstasy…the smiles on their faces…that it was the drummer that was the cause. He was the magic genie that pulled that original American sound together.

At that moment I knew..I wanted to be Levon. I had seen every drummer and studied them carefully throughout my life as a drummer: and most are known by the “drum solo.” There was the ungodly drum solo in Inna Godda DaVita…repetitious: There was the impressive “chops” of the drummer from Chicago in “I’m a Man” nice to watch..but like you watch a movie.  While Wipe Out was the norm to which drummers judged themselves, it left me bored.

But Levon did no drum solos. He just laid down the most remarkable feeling that JUMPED off that stage and left you jumping in your seats. There was no way he could compete with a Buddy Rich, or a Billy Cobham, or many of the other famous drummers, but there is something cerebrally ecstatic about the simplicity of a steady beat. Levon’s  drums talked to your heart in the most simple way. You did not want to leave that sound…your body would fight you ever step of the way. You literally FELT his drums. I can’t explain it.

The only other drummer that had that unexplainable talent was in my drummer’s mind, Gene Krupa. And Levon could sing…it was twang, and it was to the point, and it was fun.

The song Rag Mama Rag (Listen to video)  is a great statement about women. Was he complaining that his mistress was on her period and didn’t want to have sex? Or was she just always bitching about something?

Who cares?  It’s one of my favorite songs.

Levon was a great drummer. Right up there with the unappreciated Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts. I tried my best to be like them. Not the show off drummer, but the heart of the band. I realized I could never compete with the great drummers everywhere, but I could do what Levon did. Feel, the music, enhanced the music of the other musicians, and make people dance.

The heart beats strong. And you’d better dance while you can.

I paid the price with hands so big from years of drumming, my son once said I had the hands of an eighty -year- old (I was 29 at the time)and he was right. I can see my veins now punching out like an old prizefighter. Not pretty for any girl…but there you go.

Levon died last week, but …it’s okay. He’s still here. He’s singing to me right now.

Now, enjoy RAG MAMA RAG…and wonder…Who in the world would think to play a tuba in a rock song?

Only The Band. They were one of a kind.

(The Bourbon is 100 proof, it’s you and me and the telephone….!!)

April 20, 2012 Posted by | music, Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Nobody’s Fool: Allen West

Nobody’s Fool

Last week Allen West came out and said that there were communists in our Congress. Oh my. They went after him.

This is a man who should be running the White House. He’s educated, loyal, patriotic, and filled with great political insight into our Constitution.

When he said that communists were in Congress, he gives you the reason he said it, and why.

Allen West is the best of the best–a great American, and Nobody’s Fool.

Okay..now watch..and learn.

Enjoy!

April 19, 2012 Posted by | Allen West | , | Leave a comment

Obama’s Civil Rights: Will YOU Be Protected?

NobodyWins

Today …Nobody was picking a book up that I bought in 2003 and never opened. It’s name: The Washington Information Directory.  It contains 960 polity pages of horror. In other words, open it up and you say,  “Do we really NEED all these governmental agencies?”

Let’s start with the departments we are paying to protect our…civil rights.

Have you been discriminated because you did not get that job at Boeing, because you were black/fat/a woman/a transvestite/ a gay/ old/illegal immigrant/, or a foreigner? Well, here’s a short list of places you can call:

Commission on Civil Rights: They assess the laws and do studies on every nationality on the planet. In 2004, Mary Frances Berry (Mayor “Cocaine” Berry’s wife) was head of it.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: So, if the Commission on Civil Rights figures out there’s a problem these guys examine how much of it is in the job place.

Executive Office of the President: Oh…didn’t you know the President served as a liaison between the public and the administration on Civil Rights? That’s why we keep hearing from Obama on race. It’s officially part of his job. It’s not in the Constitution, but there you go.

Health and Human Services Dept., Civil Rights; You can’t be discriminated against getting the health care you deserve. If your an illegal, you might want to send them flowers.

Justice Department: After the other ones have figured out there is a problem, these guys will arrest you—unless of course you happen to be a Black Panther. Eric Holder is especially concerned about black civil rights.

House Government Reform Committee: Oversees the Equal Employment office.

House Judiciary Committee: Watches over civil right laws.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee: Oversees operations of Equal Employment.

Senate Judiciary Committee: Oversees operations of civil rights.

(Are you seeing a pattern here? How many organizations do we NEED to oversee civil rights laws?)

Now we get into the Non-profit: (Which means they get money but don’t have to pay taxes.)

Citizens Commission of Civil Rights: Hey…here’s a place where former federal officials can get a job! This monitors the guys that are still in the government! Do you feel safe now?

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. These guys coordinate all the gays, blacks, women and guppies into action.

Okay, nobody wants to list all the government organization that get taxpayers hard earned dollars just to protect our civil right…trust me on that. You don’t want to read what I’m seeing here, there are literally THOUSANDS of organizations. But a normal person would say, why can’t we have just ONE or two ? That’s not how our government works.

Just look at the Black Caucus Foundation, and you can see the damage already.  If a black is in the Senate or House already..why in the world do they need to “caucus” the rest of the Congress? They were “elected” that should be enough. If we have to have a black caucus, then we should have a white caucus. Do you see the silliness here?

There are thousands of government agencies that should be eliminated. But the object is to keep as many people working for the government as possible, because it then assures that the government will never be overthrown.

Half the people would starve.

Here in St. Louis, the City is laying off 90 policemen and firemen because they have to. If they don’t lay off police and not hire anymore, then the pensions promised to those that have retired can’t be paid. They choose to hire no more cops.

And if you have no police, then sooner or later the Federal Government will send in the National Guard, or Homeland Security if there are riots.

And so..remember — that is one of Obama’s “Must do list “agenda’s:”  A Civilian National Police Force stronger than our military.

And if you destroy the economy, it’s much easier to get your National Gestapo, isn’t it?

Do you see where this is heading?

Nobody Wins, when a government becomes too big, especially all the nobodies that have to live with a bloated federal lard of glutton’s.

Obama is taking us beyond fascism. He dreams of total control, and in the end the only civil rights that will be granted will be decided by one man.

He MUST be stopped.

 

April 19, 2012 Posted by | Obama | , , , , , | Leave a comment

To Boldly Go..Star Treking…

Nobody Wonders–

Some times you have to boldly go and make a fool of yourself and that’s what I did today with my Trekkie friend Pattie at the Star Trek Exhibition down at the St. Louis Science center.

Here you can see, Captain Pattie remains cool and calm while I freak out at the Federation ship she just blew up. Of course, then we had to make a run for it, (Federations are never very nice when you blow them up) and Scottie beamed us back in time, while I kept the phaser on for any last-minute attacks: Pattie was checking for atmospheric weather amoralities….and we both somehow landed in Kirk’s Captain seat, which of course, we were fighting over..(because we, like smart women everywhere, were not ABOUT to pay for two pictures!)–untill we looked over and saw..two strange creatures from another planet..making strange gestures at us. I didn’t catch their names, but since we were from the future, we have no idea who those people were. They looked like a very nice married couple from some house in the Late Great America. I believe that is an American Flag behind that man. That must have been BEFORE China took it over. Anyway…

It was a rough day, and I’m glad we made it back to the future where you can still be silly, even if you’re NOT drinking.

April 18, 2012 Posted by | humor, Uncategorized | , | 2 Comments

Obama Signs Your Rights Away…AGAIN to the ICC

Nobody Knows

President Obama has signed an executive order giving an international ‘police’ the right to come into our country and arrest citizens? Who knew?

Well, that’s just peachy. Nobody is talking about that on the local news now are they?

You have to say one thing about the Paul’s…they are decent, honest, and American loving people, and it’s no wonder the globalists want to control the internet because they don’t want you the global citizens to think about this.

Nobody suggests that we should stop sending billions over to all the Muslim countries in the middle East. It’s all bribe money. It’s the same thing that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had to deal with, except, they refused to send the money to the Muslims.

Not OUR current Presidents..noooooo. It’s all about globalization.

Just today, the American installed Karzai, said he wants the billions to continue to come into his hands, even after we leave.

“Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he wants the United States to provide $2 billion a year to fund Afghan security forces once international combat troops leave the country in 2014. President Karzai said Tuesday a U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership agreement that is being negotiated should include a written guarantee that Washington will provide at least $2 billion annually for Afghan security personnel. U.S. officials say they could pay up to about $4 billion a year to fund Afghan forces, but they also say the strategic pact is not meant to be a detailed aid package but a broader framework of how the two nations will work together in the future.”

So, we get out of Afghanistan, but we keep sending billions to Karzai for what? So he can line his pockets like Gaddafi?

Globalization: It’s a bitch.

 

April 17, 2012 Posted by | Global Government, Globalization, Middle East, Obama, Uncategorized | , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Kids: Brain VS Brawn

Nobody Reports

Scientists all over the world have been frantically trying to figure out how to make humans smarter. But once in a while mother nature blurbs kids out with more brains than even our smartest people…putting a hold on brain transformation a few more years.

That’s four-year- old Heidi Hankins, of England…who recently joined Mensa. Hankins has scored an IQ of 159 – just one point beneath the estimated IQ of Albert Einstein, father of the Theory of Relativity, and comparable to the estimated IQ of Stephen Hawking, one of the most noted physicists of the modern age. But it wasn’t Heidi’s bright idea to join Mensa. Her father, Matthew Hankins, 46, a lecturer at the University of Southampton, came up with that one.

“We always thought Heidi was pretty bright because she was reading early. I happen to specialize in measuring I.Q.s in children, and I was curious about her and the results were off the scale.”

Well. of course they were, DAD! (no bias here)

Nobody Wonders: What good all that IQ will do her, when she is one day, all grown up, and happens to run into this young man? Sure, he’s just a couple of years her junior. But, for all of Heidi’s great IQ, I am willing to bet, that it won’t be the IQ that will dominate..it will be the hormones rushing through her body. That bright IQ of hers will melt into puddles if he evens comes near her and shows just how strong one human can get from doing pull-ups for 22 years straight. He could have the brains of a democrat in heat, and she won’t care.

After all…ask any man with a high IQ what happens when a pretty girl goes by.

If you are like me, you can only imagine what this kid is going to become. They should have a MENSA for superhuman boys.  Nobody Thinks this father was pumping testosterones into  his son’s milk bottles, and just like Heidi’s dad…was going for the records.

Enjoy!

And notice, the kids not dumb. He knows he needs to get up on the chair, but he can’t budge it. A few more pushups, and dad will have to put the Kiddie program on the ceiliing.

April 17, 2012 Posted by | education, humor, Uncategorized | , , , , | 1 Comment

Where’s MY GSA Birthday Present?

Nobody’s Perfect–

When it comes to our ‘public servants’ spending taxpayers money, very few can resist, and when it comes to getting their hands on taxpayers cash, it seems our public servants just can’t help themselves. They’ve got to spend it on parties and vacations, and celebrate all their birthdays!   

When Nancy Pelosi wanted her own private jet to take her back and forth from Washington D.C., to California, every week, stocked with a full liquor cabinet and chocolate covered strawberries, she got it.

When Leon Panetta wanted to go back to his walnut farm in California every weekend, he costs the taxpayers around $860,000, due to his special needs for a big plane. He said he needed to get back to his walnut farm because it’s important “just to get your mind straight and your perspective straight.”  He got it.

(What? There are no walnuts in D.C.? )

When the Secret Service had to order up 21 prostitutes for their party in Cartagena, Columbia….they got it. After all, they are probably tired of watching the “President” and his family getting to have all that fun all over the world. Maybe they figured it was their turn to relax.

When the GSA was found making a video about their expensive trip to Las Vegas…they got…brought before Congress. What?

“WASHINGTON (AP) — General Services Administration witnesses came under sharp criticism from Congress for a second day on Tuesday, as lawmakers expressed outrage over junkets, bonuses and parties paid for by taxpayers. Questioning ranged beyond the $823,000 paid for a Las Vegas conference in October 2010, to a culture of the nation’s government real estate agency playing fast and loose with taxpayer money.

Family members often were taken along, and in an email exchange between GSA regional executive Jeffrey Neely and his wife last November, they wrote of a planned trip turning into a birthday celebration. The 17-day trip took place last February to Hawaii, Guam and Saipan. Neely – who was placed on administrative leave – wrote his wife:”Rough schedule per our conversation. Guess this’ll be your birthday present?”

Nobody Wants to know: Where’s MY birthday present?  

Why is the GSA being singled out? Obama and his wife have wasted more of the taxpayer’s money on their own personal pleasure than any past President in American’s history. Aren’t they “public servants”? They even went so far as to give their dog his own private jet. Michelle likes to take her own vacations. …on her own personal plane. With 27 people just to dress her.

Can you think of any two public servants who waste more?

Now, we remember Hillary going to Africa with Chelsea, and Laura Bush made a few trips of her own, but is this all really necessary? What are we paying the ambassadors for? 

It’s gotta be good to be a ‘public servant’ these days. If anyone cared to check into the many “vacations” held in Las Vegas and Hawaii for the Post Office employees, or state employees, or for that matter, any bureaucracy in the overstuffed turkey called our government, you would find billions of  dollars wasted on parties and vacations,( and big expensive offices) all paid by the taxpayer, many of whom can only dream of going to Hawaii.

This is nothing new. What is new is that Congress is looking into it.

Like good politicians, they had to pretend they are mad, because—

                                             IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR!

Even Obama, the one who parties harder than anyone, had to come out and say he would be angry if it was found out his Secret Service had not paid the prostitutes in Columbia. (Did I get that right?)

And Nobody believes that Obama is mad. Obama believes, like most “government servants,” no matter what the cost, they all feel they deserve to party on the taxpayer’s money, because it’s a once in a lifetime piggy bank of free cash that they (and he) would feel stupid not to take advantage of. 

 Is it any wonder they all like to brag about it?  

The only solution for the nobodies working hard while the govenment employees celebrate their birthdays with thousand dollar lush vacations is: Everybody stop paying taxes.

(Okay, I have no clue)

April 17, 2012 Posted by | Barack Obama, corruption, Uncategorized | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nobody Flashes :Doc Brown’s Tea

Nobody Flashes

This guy is REALLY funny. Somehow he combines a nice cup of tea to RAP. And he’s a very good rapper!

Enjoy! If you’re not laughing at the end of this, then may I suggest you might consider taking Prozac.

 

April 16, 2012 Posted by | humor | | 1 Comment

Obama’s House of Cartagena’s Secrets.

Nobody’s Opinion

WOW…How much gas did this Presidential parade cost the taxpayer?

Wait: We are used to that. We are NOT used to our Secret Service guys acting like guys at a frat party. Gee…I guess it’s old news now. When you have a President that loves to party, why shouldn’t his boys take some time off and have some fun?

By now the world has heard that Obama’s Secret Service had themselves a good old-time (on our dime) down in Cartagena, Columbia. Depending on what your read…12 secret service men, and five more army guys..and who knows who else was left out–had a great big booze and prostitute party in Columbia. The only reason they were busted is because one guy didn’t feel he had to pay out of his own pocket.

That’s what happens when you spend too much time with a man who feels entitled to everything. Some Congressman had a slip of the tongue and said something was “taken”…but you won’t hear that again.
*****

There are several big reasons why every America should be concerned about this, and here’s why—

IF this had been just one or two guys, you would think that they just disrespected the President and their jobs. But…two supervisors were in on this big orgy. So, it stands to reason that this has happened before, with Obama’s permission, and is probably something that goes on all the time, and Obama just says “Hey boys, put it on the tab.”

After all, Obama understand these things. He used to be a big cocaine addict. He wouldn’t judge anyone partying, or doing cocaine, or getting prostitutes, because he has done it. And, in retrospect it might just be the way Obama likes to pay his guys. Maybe that trip to Cancun that Malia recently took with her girlfriends was REALLY a sort of present for some of his guards: sort of a fully paid vacation…as a gift from their boss. In fact— wasn’t it exactly 12 body guards that went down to Cancun?  It stands to reason that grown men would be more interested in spring break than a 14- year-old girl.

Another reason: This was in Columbia, land of drug Cartels. And Obama’s first reaction to this was sort of like..Oh don’t worry. You people are making too big a deal out of this.

“I want to thank President Santos and the people of Colombia for the extraordinary hospitality in the beautiful city of Cartagena,” said Obama. “We’re having a wonderful time. And usually when I take these summit trips, part of my job is to scout out where I may want to bring Michelle back later for vacation. So we’ll make sure to come back sometime in the near future.”

That arrogant statement, was meant to upset Larry Conors (YEAH..a St. Louis hometown boy!) who recently had the guts to call Obama on all his vacations. That was Obama’s way of telling us all to “Fuck off. ” He’s staying in, and taking as many vacations as he likes.

No one should be surprised if Obama still does cocaine, or of his lackadaisical attitude towards sex. After all, it was Obama that has made the military gay. And after this incident, I’m inclined to believe that Obama himself is gay. Is he bribing his own secret service agents to keep his “gay” secrets? How long did they keep Jack Kennedy’s affairs quiet?

Here’s a few excerpts from Kevin Duvan at Hill Buzz:

In Chicago’s Boystown gay community, older guys who frequented the little dive bars that have been around forever told tales back in the 2008 primaries about Barack Obama slipping out whenever he was in Chicago for romps at the local bathhouse “Man’s Country”. The details given in these accounts of his activities were substantial. Apparently, he went most often to this Andersonville neighborhood bathhouse on Wednesdays, and while there he was rumored to seek oral sex from older white men. According to the gossip, Barack Obama would never reciprocate in these encounters, but enjoyed being pleasured by older white guys. Evidently, he is not a giver and is something of a selfish bathhouse regular when not being the current President of the United States.
*****
During the 2008 election, I campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. Repeatedly, I heard over and over here in Chicago that Barack Obama is gay and that his marriage to Michelle is one of mutual convenience. In the black community, this is called “being on the down-low,” where a closeted gay male weds an often-times gruff and demanding woman (typically without other male suitors of her own) to take public scrutiny off them both and afford the pair a successful life they’d never achieve separately.
*****
Isn’t it strange that the public’s never been introduced to a SINGLE GIRLFRIEND that Barack Obama ever had in high school, college, law school, or the days before he met Michelle?
(Gives one a whole other look at Joe Biden..:) Nobody has to admit: the silence is overwhelmingly in support of the gay theory. )
So what is he doing in Columbia? He was pimping for the big multinationals.

 

The more than 330 business executives that were scheduled to attend included Rollin Ford, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; Luis Montoya, president of Latin America Beverages for PepsiCo Inc.; Rocky Becker, vice president of the Americas for Exxon Mobil Corp., and Luis Carlos Villegas, president of ANDI, Colombia’s largest business association. Obama said, alongside summit host Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, that South American governments must work to increase the size of middle class in their countries and increase transparency.

“The days when we could think of each of our economies in isolation, those days are long gone,” the U.S. president said. “How can we make sure that globalization and that integration is benefiting a broad base of people?”

We heard much the same mantra from President George W. Bush. And it’s the same thing we will hear from Mitt Romney, if he gets in. The United States is now a “service” economy. We “service” our politicians and our global multinational corporations so that they can go out and globalize the rest of the world. And like that prostitute in Cartagena, we’re not getting paid. 

*****

 MR. Green is right, although he says it a bit more bluntly than I. (I LOVE posting rants from other Nobodies) 
*****
 Our Presidents are pimps for the big global corporations. All we can hope is that the Gay/Muslim/drug addict/ Marxist/ megalomaniac is sent to Columbia for good. If the big corporations are calling all the shots, let’s hope they have the sense to put in the Mormon. I’d say the lesser of two evils is pretty clear.
*****
Besides, we know the last time in history a closet ‘gay’ took control of a country…..the Jews got toasted. Let me say that again:
The LAST time in history that a closet “gay” took control of a country, the Jews got toasted.
Nobody Thinks there are too many parallels in history to let this guy slip by just because we ‘respect’ the office. It’s because we “respect” the office that we should be attacking this man daily.

As for his dreams of endless vacations: Let Obama take Michelle there on his own dime. He’s spent more than enough of ours,

Now, enjoy Mr. Green!

April 16, 2012 Posted by | corruption, Obama, Uncategorized | , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Obama Gets Rudest President Award

Nobody Gets Email

I thought this video shows the side of Obama that we don’t see enough. When he is in the Oval Office, he has no sense of its history, or even just simple respect for the office he holds.  He treats it as if it’s just another living room. And that explains his half-ass approach to most everything. Not to mention, he bows to our enemies but makes everyone here walk behind him? If that isn’t like a Muslim I don’t know what is.

Watch and judge for yourself. We came from George Washington, to this. We can only go up.

(Thanks to Floyd.)

April 14, 2012 Posted by | Barack Obama | , , | Leave a comment

Nobody’s Email: Ben Stein

Nobody Gets Email

It’s hard not to like Ben Stein. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the most famous teacher in any movie.

Nobody Notes: If you haven’t seen Ben’s Stein’s EXPELLED, you should. Right away. In fact, see it twice.

(Thanks to Pattie.)

Paradoxical Quote of The Day From Ben Stein:

“Fathom the Hypocrisy of a Government

that requires every citizen to prove

they are insured … but not everyone

must prove they are a citizen.”

 

April 14, 2012 Posted by | humor | | Leave a comment

Nobody Cares About the Ocean Currents

Nobody Cares

Here is a really cool visual representation of the Ocean currents between June of 2005 to December 2007. If you look REALLY hard, you can see Al Gore’s butt.

Enjoy!

(Thanks to amfortas)

April 13, 2012 Posted by | humor, science | , , | Leave a comment

Nobody Remembers: Bruce Lee

Nobody Remembers

“Knowing is not enough. Willing is not enough: we must do.       —Bruce Lee

Like many young girls growing up all over the world, I usually had a crush on some famous guy when there wasn’t a man in my life.  My first big one was Paul McCartney. I always baked a cake for him when it was his birthday, and since it was a day after mine, I got double-dipped in two big chocolate cakes!

Those were the good old days. Now I get ONE carrot cake cupcake, if I’m good.

But, the smartest and longest crush I ever had was on Bruce Lee. At first, I was attracted to Bruce for his movies of course….but unlike the movies of today, when Bruce Lee beat up ten guys at once, you could believe that the man could actually do it. At the time, I saw every Bruce Lee movie, read
every book, and had the usual Bruce Lee posters on my wall. I wanted to be Bruce Lee, or at least get my life up to some kind of better standard.

Most of all I admired his work ethics. His energy. It was because of Bruce that I became a drummer. I practiced sometimes twelve hours a day, beating on pillows, doing 5 stroke rolls, trying to make my wrist actions stronger… quicker..so I could be louder. I learned that from Bruce. After all, I was competing with big guys with big biceps, and this was before they miked the drums. Bruce was a little guy, and his theory was that the faster you punched the more force. He was right. It worked for me, and he was proof that it worked for him, because he was only 135 pounds.

Bruce was more than just a martial arts artist. He was the ultimate uniter of East and West.  He was an incredibly brilliant thinker. He was the universal symbol for how man should always fight corruption, whether it be in China, America, or you own hometown. It’s amazing how much the man accomplished in his short time on earth. People everywhere were crazy about him.

Another reason I liked the guy was his grace. I had been a professional dancer at one time,  I had just quit my job teaching at Arthur Murray’s (long story) when I noticed this man. How could anyone be so graceful when fighting? Watch any man doing Martial arts and they look clumsy. Crude. Not Bruce…Bruce ‘s body was as graceful as a gazelle in flight. I have yet to see any man look as good when they were fighting. (Being Cha-Cha Campion of Hong Kong might have helped.)  

Bruce not only danced in his body and moves, he danced in his mind. Like any true artist his creativity was endless. I won’t go into the many wonders of Bruce Lee here, but I will tell you, that years later, my grown-up son bought me a framed photograph of Bruce Lee to go in my Japanese decorated front dining room, years after I had forgotten all about the man.

Then I remembered: I used to make my son watch all the Bruce Lee movies with me when he was a kid, and I often wonder if it’s one of the reasons he became a personal trainer.

So, let’s remember Bruce Lee…here’s one of my favorite passages in his own words, and think while you’re reading this if the whole world couldn’t learn something more from Bruce Lee: It was an introduction he gave before he began to teach you his art.

“Make this article relate to yourself because, though it is on JKD,  it is primarily concerned with the blossoming of a martial artist not a “Chinese” martial artist or a “Japanese” martial artist. A martial artist is a human being first. Just as nationalities have nothing to do with one’s humanity, so they have nothing to do with the martial arts. Leave your protective shell of isolation and relate directly to what is being said. Return to your senses by ceasing all the intervening intellectual mumbo jumbo. Remember that life is a constant process of relating. Remember too that I seek neither your approval nor to influence you toward my way of thinking. I will be more than satisfied if, as a result of this article, you begin to investigate everything for yourself and cease to uncritically accept prescribed formulas that dictate “this is this” and  “that is that. “

 

April 13, 2012 Posted by | Entertainers, Life | , , , , | Leave a comment

Nobody’s Fool: Teddy Roosevelt on Being an American

Nobody’s Fool

Here’s Teddy Roosevelt in 1907. And here’s one of his best quotations…When was the last time you heard this from an American President?

‘In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.’

 Theodore Roosevelt 1907 Every American citizen needs to read this!

(Thanks to Pattie)

April 13, 2012 Posted by | Hispanic, History, imigration | , , | 1 Comment