Dread-Head's Blog

Greetings all from the one who's "happy to be nappy" (hopefully 90's rap group Naughty by Nature doesn't sue me for stealing that) to explain my absence as of late. I won't go into detail, BUT I'm in the midst of a project which had been a dream of mine until recently. I won't say anymore for now, but it's taking a fair amount of the time I'd normally spend bloggine. When I've completed this undertaking I'll let you guys know something.

As per the Jose/Sabila question as to which celebrity I most resemble? My mom and several of my friends say I look a lot like Spencer Tillman. Personally I don't see it.

later people

Dread-Head

BTW, What the heck ever happened to Coca-cola Beth?

Dear Sirs:

                 I'm operating under the assumption that most of you are male given how many of the OPEC nations you deal with might not feel comfortable making billion dollar deals with women, but that's another topic for another day. My name is unimportant but I like most of the free world am one of your customers. I'm a working stiff in Houston, Texas who lives a quiet average life.

               I go to work, I go home and I occasionally hop into my car and go no particular place simply for the joy of going there.  For the past several years the price of oil has jumped steadily and seemingly everything makes them go higher. If there is a storm and a single refinery is off line for a week the price of oil rises. If one country in the middle east shoots at another or thinks about it, the price of oil goes up. If The Imir of Kuwait has a chest cold the price of oil goes up. When winter comes you raise the price of oil. When summer comes, you raise the price of oil.  If  we decided to explore ALTERNATIVES to crude oil the price of oil goes up. You're like a casino and the deck is so heavily stacked in your favor that it can't honestly be called a "game" anymore.

         Even though last year China only used 2% of the total oil that the United States used you've told me and your other loyal customers that them wanting 2% of the total oil used by the United States justifies you jacking up the price 25% and more.  You've told us that oil prices are set by supply and demand, yet as I check Reuters Business news or watch the "Nightly Business Report" on PBS I've yet to hear of petro-chemical price wars. I'm not hearing how Dubai is selling oil for less than Saudi Arabia, How Russia is trying to undercut Venezuela or how The United Arab Emmirates and Iran are having a clearance sale and "THEIR PRICES ARE INSANE!" Supply & Demand are part of a market economy but you guys aren't INTO supply and demand. You control the supply and all work together to insure that you all get richer without realizing you controlling the ENTIRE economy hurts everyone else.

  Average Americans like myself have to pay more for gasoline which leaves us with smaller food budgets. But because the grocers are ALSO paying higher fuel prices they pass them on to us and WE then get less food. As the cost of doing business is rising due largely in part to your raising the price of your product on a daily basis most employers can't give their employees cost of living raises to keep up with the rising cost of everything. You are preparing the world for a possible economic depression.

          Many small companies are going bankrupt because they can't afford fuel and many men and women are losing utilities because they are forced to pay higher prices for everything.  I'm writing you to say that I have had enough. This summer I shall only take my car when I've no other options. I'll take public transportation and ride a bike whenever I can. My car shall sit in my driveway only having it's engine started once a week to make sure the battery doesn't die.

      You and your wealthy Arab masters have successfully priced me off the road. I shall miss standing at gas stations filling my tank, driving to Austin and Louisiana to visit friends and family and just hopping in my car to drive across town for sushi or good Chinese food.  Gentlemen this economic war is over. You've won. As I don't speak for all Americans I can only hope you don't use myself and several other people not driving as yet another excuse to raise the price of oil yet again.

Economically Crippled,

                                           J Handy/Houston, Texas 

At the end of world war one President Woodrow Wilson convinced congress that a day to remember all of the brave men who laid down their lives in the most costly war to date (in human terms and at the time it was) should not be forgotten. Armistice day was set aside so that we could solemnly observe those who went off to war and either never returned or returned horizontially draped in old glory.

         After enough time passed Armistice day was broadened to include those who died in all of America's wars and the name was changed to Memorial day. I have friends who are combat veterans. When they speak of the action they saw they have a strange reverence for the men against whom they fought.  This is not to say that they love them by any means but they came to respect an enemy whose lfriend's lives they had taken and who could have easily taken theirs.

       They're part of a brotherhood that those of  us who've never sighted in on a breathing human being can never know. I think of Memorial day as a day when everyone who has ever lost a son/brother/husband  (and as of late daughter/sister/wife) to war should remember those they love and recognize their sacrifice.

       What I find odious are those who have no reverence for the fallen, who see this observance as nothing more than a day off work and an excuse to have a barbeque. We dishonor generations of people who died for that which they fought whenever we do this.  To every man and woman who has ever worn his country's uniform and died wearing it and their families, know that in Houston, Texas a Marine who's never seen combat thanks you for your sacrifice in his thoughts and prayers.

PFC J.J. Handy USMC

aka Dread-Head

As a heterosexual male I'm about as entertained by Sex & the City as the "average" cosmopolital drinking woman is by Sports Center, Hemingway novels, war movies, electronics, hunting, fishing & barbequeing.  I tried watching the show in question when a female friend of mine urged me that if I gave it a chance I'd like it. I thought the women in question were more obsessed with actually BEING in a relationship than in being in a HEALTHY one and seemed fascinated by over priced shoes and Manhattanite status.

      Uh okay.  Don't take this the wrong way ladies, but most men view shoes as a covering for our feet and can't reconcile spending several hundred to a few thousand on a pair. We look at a wallet as a place to carry our money and NOT an accessory to show off to other guys.

    Also the average GUY is smart enough to know that if we're sleeping with a married WOMAN (as one of the characters was having an affair with a married MAN) and she eventually gets with us we can't hope to have a REAL relationship with her as we already KNOW that she's prone to cheat.  Carrie Bradshaw hooked up with "Mr. Big" when he was still married and spent the duration of the show either chasing or pining after him. Most men know if I woman will cheat for you she'll cheat on you.

     I mean no disrespect ladies, but PLEASE explain the immense popularity about the show that Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane (in the guise of Brian Griffin) referred to as "A show about three hookers and their mother."

"Tell your mama that's a baby and not a paycheck"

                                                   
                                          :OutKast "Miss Jackson"

I'm not the first person to make this argument and I'm quite sure I won't be the last.  I'm SICK and tired of the NBA and some of the elements surrounding it. I'm not refering to the preferential treatments refs seem to give "marquis" players or bladant fouls that would equate an assault charge on the streets of most American cities, I'm refering to something that happens off the court.

          I'm sick of going on to the news wires and reading about how some pampered thug has either assaulted a fan, another player, a coach or some innocent bystander in a strip club.

        I'm sick of the fact that if you're name is BoQueesha and you look as if you could be a "rumpshaker" in a rap video there exist a near cottage industry of figuring out creative ways of becoming impregnated with the spawn of pro athletes as a means of financial security.

            Never mind getting an education.  Getting  knocked up by a professional basketball player is a hoodtat's answer to winning the lottery. You'll get a percentage of his HUGE income "for the baby", but the child of a superstar althete would WANT his mother to live in an expensive house in an exclusive neighborhood and drive an S class Mercedes or Excursion.  Of couse BoQueesha  needs a designer wardrobe and lots of jewelry because the baby wouldn't want his mother to NOT stand out of a crowd.

         Am I making the primadonna athletes sound like victims? If so then I appologize. If you KNOW about child support laws in the United States and that aggressive hoodrats are willing to kill for your "seed" and you either aren't selective in the company you keep OR aren't smart enough to take precautions then you're an overpaid imbecile and DESERVE to be bled dry by each "baby's mama" who crawls out of the wood work with a kid whom she might as well name "meal ticket."

Dear *Crazy old Lady,

                                     Let me say for the record that I'm getting you a mother's day present out of protest because I truly feel that it's a made up greeting card holiday and I know you would give me a ton of guilt if I did not.

                                    Each day that I know I can pick up the phone and hear your voice or drop by your place to have you try to make me eat something destined to elevate my blood pressure and cholesterol to me is mother's day.  Each time I hear that nasally voice of yours and wonder why a woman from rural Louisiana sounds like she's from Long Island to me is mother's day.

                                Mother's day to me is any time I remember the first time you dropped me off at school, or all the times you helped me with my homework.  It's  whenever I remember all of the childhood activities chorus, pop warner football, cub scouts, ROTC,  drama & band that you made me participate in that I found myself enjoying.  Mothers day to me is remembering every pot of soup you made me when I had a cold or flu or just didn't feel right.

                     Mother's day to me is  you telling me that I should follow my dreams and that as long as I kept persuing my dream I could never consider myself a failure. Mothers day to me is for all the times I came to you emotionally broken and you believed in me more than I believed in myself.  Mothers day is when I remember the proud look you had on your face the day you attended my college commencement.

                  Mothers day is each time you give me the benefit of your character judgements and remind me that there are still good people out there.  Mother's day happens each time I find myself in a situation where I could easily do something that would benefit me greatly at someone else's expense but do the right thing because I know it's what YOU would have done.

               Every day in which I KNOW you're still on this planet and love your eccentric youngest child, his "strange" hairstyle, his love of "Weird" foods, his crazy older brother and 3 older sisters and all their kids is mother's day.  Each time I see you and say "I love you mom" rather than "goodbye" is Mother's day to me. 

           To me trying to say how I feel about you on only ONE day is insulting to the way I feel about you and everything you've ever done for me.  You're the person I love most in the world and the 365 days in the year for the past 38 years have been one beautiful Mother's day.

Your son,

                 Jesse

P.S.  I love you "Crazy old lady."

*"Crazy Old Lady" is my nickname/term of endearment for my mother and has been for some time. It's not used in a disrespectful manner.

I am a political/news junkie, but I am now officially burned out on our political process. I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick of all of our candidates. I'm sick of Hillary, I'm sick of Obama, I'm sick of McCain. I'm tired of Tim Russert. If I see George Snuffalufagus (Stephanophalus) analyze the superdelagates again my head is going to explode.  I love this country and our electoral process, but d@mn! enough allready!

Q: How do you find out what Associate Justice "Uncle" Clarence Thomas' opinion was in any ruling since he joined the Supreme Court?

A: Ask Justice Scalia because he gave it to him.

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was interviewed recently on the news magazine 60 Minutes by Leslie Stahl and when asked if torture met the Constitution's definition of "Torture" he clearly said no.

       He danced around it a bit by saying cute little things like "How does one define torture?" and then concluded by saying having people subject you to physical pain while you're in custody (if you haven't actually been convicted of anything) DOES NOT constitute "punishment." As you've yet to be sentenced for anything and neither judge nor jury has ordered your maltreatment it isn't "punishment" by his definition. It's merely people using" interogation techniques to extract information."

     Wow. I wonder if the good justice would have that same view were he ever in a room tied to a plank having water poured into his nostrils? Or if he were hooked up to a field generator and given electric shocks? Would he think he were being punished, or merely "interogated?"

        I don't advocate babying those who kill innocent men and women to bring attention to a terrorist agenda, but when we start to use torture and essentially pretend the Geneva accords don't apply to us we're sending a message to the terrorist of this world that when they capture an American soldier, sailor, airman or Marine they have carte blanc to to ANYTHING to him or her.

        The one CIVIL aspect of war is that (at least in theory anyway) is that prisoners are to be treated humanely. Scalia and some of his friends on the court have effectively said that the Geneva accords don't apply to Al Quaida suspects because they are NOT prisoners of war (even though they were captured on battlefields). They are merely detainees.  I've heard a simular argument once before. The North Vietnamese used it to justify THEIR torture of captured Americans.  Their logic? The United States never declared war against them, hence the brave American's captured were not "prisoners of war" but "war criminals."

     Scalia and the court are apathetically  putting American fighting men & women  in jeopardy and in MY opinion THAT makes him the world's BIGGEST A-hole.

As one who is addicted to several newswires and political round tables I get lots of information on a daily basis. The other day I heard an ardent Senator Clinton supporter say:  "Senator Obama should just concede." A poll was taken and many of Senator Clinton's supporters feel the same way.

       I can't help but wonder if either widespread hallucinogen abuse or elevated bargain basement IDOICY are running rampant among many stauch Clinton supporters. According the the logic these apparent nuclear physicists are  using if you're in a competition and leading it you should simply give up because the person you're competing against feels that he or she is better than you. Wow, if you didn't feel you were better than the other person why on earth would you BOTHER competing.

         If Senator Clinton were leading in both the popular vote AND pledged delegates (she leads in neither) would these same people be telling HER  to "step aside" because the junior senator from Illinois "wanted it more" and thought HE could do a "better job?"  OF COURSE THEY WOULD!  And after they did Lindsay Lohan and Michelle Wie would come over, tell me how much the both love guys 18 years older than they are and  snuggle with me under a huge blanket while we watched Spartacus. 

      YEAH RIGHT! Then monkeys would fly out of my...BUT seriously,  Senator Clinton keeps asking why Senator Obama can't "Close the deal" and seems to keep hinting to superdelagates that she's more electable. If that were the case, then why hasn't SHE sealed the deal and why doesn't SHE lead in either delegates OR the popular vote?  BTW for those about to mention Florida and Michigan (Clinton was the only candidate ON the ballot in Michigan and 30% of the states Dems still voted "OTHER") :

"Well, let's not worry about Florida and Michigan, they're not going to count anyway."

: Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton

Your thoughts?

Am I the only single male who thinks that women all seem to want either:

a. Someone whom they can change...but will leave if they actually CAN change him.

b. a Thug with a ghost of a sensitive side that only THEY can see.

c. A complete wuss whom they can push and bully

d. An ATM that looks good in a suit whom they can show off at parties.

        Perhaps I'm getting jaded in my old age.  Maybe I've received the "You're a really sweet guy and everything.." speech that all females must commit to memory at 13 or when they develop breasts. Perhaps I've been cheated on too many times or have had too many women tell me that I didn't make enough money, but I've grown cynical.

       This is NOT to say that we men don't have unrealistic expectations of women or that we always treat them fairly, but why the hell is it so difficult for the sexes to simply enjoy being around one another without imposing stupid guidelines on one another?

Hey I'm just venting...so please don't take offense to any of this.

I've been attending Sacred Heart Co-cathederal for seven years now and have seen the congregation grow from a tiny one to a huge thriving one. Rencently the new co-cathederal went up and I and the other members of Sacred Heart have been getting visitors from all over the arch-diocese and seemingly the country since the new Cathederal opened which is a blessing.

         I usually sit right up front where the accoustics are best and I can see Father Troy Gately (and occassionally His Emminence Cardinal Denardo) give homilies. Last Sunday while in my NEW spot (where I plan to sit for the next few decades) I was sitting directly infront of a charming Vietnamese family.

       To those unfamiliar with Catholic masses there comes a point near the preparation of the eucharist when the priest says "I leave you peace my peace I give you. Look not on our sins but on the faith of our church" and concludes by saying "Let us show one another a sign of peace" and at that point you turn around and shake the hand of the person next to you. Husbands kiss or hug their wives that sort of thing.

      When this time came in mass this past Sunday and turned to shake the hands of the Vietnamese visitors sitting behind me and received unwelcome glares. One family member tapped the back of my hand in lieu of shaking it, another squeezed my finger lightly for a split second, a third refused to look at me directly but their kid (a girl of about 12 looked at me as if she was slightly embarrassed) and gave me a handshake that almost broke my hand.

        Wow.  I don't liketo play the race card here, but did their reaction to me couldn't have had anything to do with my race could it? We're supposed to be there as all of God's children to collectively worship him and glorify all he does. Should that NOT include me and persons of my hue in the minds of some?  Am I over reacting here? I've prayed for these guys if their reaction for me WAS racially motivated, but am I wrong here and just jumping to conclusions? I'm confused. 

D'art,

         I have a concept that I wanted to pitch to you.  It won't take up too much of your valuable time as I know you're a very busy man. If you can sir drop me an e-mail handy_otokosan@yahoo.com and I will happily give you a brief treatment of what I think would be a great program. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,

                         Jesse J. Handy/Dread-head

Out of sheer curiosity. When is the next Blooger picnic gonna happen? I'd love to see Texas-Debs and her husband, Snoopy, yahyahmoro, Unbelievabull and Storm Chaser again...

I am and have been a member of the Sacred Heart Co-Cathederal for some time. When it was first announced that they were planning a new cathederal I balked at the idea as I thought the old cathederal suited our needs. It was neither too big nor too small. It had a very intimate feel about it.

         The archdiocese thought differently and built a new cathederal. Yesterday was the first service I attended in the new Cathederal.  The whole placed seemed to have the charm of a brightly lit  marble tomb with a resonating echo, but I guess that will take some getting used to. Because of all the media attention there were scores of visitors and dignitaries. There were people from other parts of the city, visitors from out of town and hardly a seat to be had.  The place was packed with wall to wall lookie-lous and I hate to admit this, but I felt a little uncomfortable.

         TV cameras were there as was Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who in essence told a group of our ushers that despite the priests wanting the volunteers who had assisted him and the Cardinal to sit in a certain place that SHE and her entourage were taking their seats because "I'm a congress-woman."  I'm glad the  native New Yorker decided that the time that we pray each Sunday was worthy of a politically motivated photo-op.

      Many of the visitors were giving me (and the ropes growing from my head) odd looks as if to say "What are YOU doing here." I don't speak for the archdiocese OR the members of Sacred Heart when I say that I'll be glad when the "curiosity" factor subsides and all returns to normal.  I go to church for a sense of communion and peace and  yesterday I got neither.

The Houston Japanese festival will be Saturday April 5 & Sunday April 6th.  I attend this thing every year and hope to see you guys there.  My Avitar pic is one of the ponto bridges from the garden as Andrea "The Glam" Watkins will attest. Just playin' with ya Andrea.  I wonder if they'll have okonomiyaki (my favorite food on the planet)this year. :-)  *Arrigatoo gozaimasu,  ni otono shimi ni! Jana!

Dread-head sempai

*(Translation) "Thank you very much and see you later! Bye!"