Thursday, March 26, 2015

Co-Pilot DELIBERATELY Crashes Plane? Come'On Man!



Again, just when I thought it was safe to fly.  The scenario caught on the black box recording of the doomed Germanwings airline flight is straight out of a heart stopping nightmare. My nightmare.  Anyone who has ever had serious second thoughts about flying best take note; the skies just got a little crazier.

I, a traveler who takes a week preparing for the pain and suffering of flying with fear, have tried everything in overcoming this phobia I suffer.  From sleeping pills and cognac to books on tape to meditation and projecting my fears into another seat for the journey. All these have worked for me at times. But then there's always a new threat to my comfort in the skies.

A few years ago someone with a tube of something that could blow the plane out of the skies was caught. Another year it was the old lit match attached to the shoe tip that had some fool escorted off the plane. Recently airplanes have simply just begun disappearing into thin air, never to be seen or heard from again.

This week's cry the friendly skies moment came as a real shocker to those who have no hang ups about taking to the skies.  For us who dread and dream about air travel disaster, the horrific news reflects just one of the many nightmares we've awakened from with a gasp.  So sad and unfortunate that the travelers aboard the Germanwings flight will not be waking up from this all too real nightmare.

In my dream, the confident pilot exits the cockpit and passes through first class, nodding to passengers with that all knowing and loving grin; friendly as a new born babe peeking out from a blanket. He tips his captain's cap to some as he retreats to the private lavatory designated for those trained and entrusted with our traveling lives. 

All is well. Then a little unexpected turbulence........a little more turbulence.........now lots of turbulence as the engines make a stuttering sound and the plane begins to shake and shimmy. 

The once smiling pilot comes racing out of the bathroom, no longer resembling an angelic babe but instead sporting a look of total green panic. Us passengers react with fear and horror while watching our once calm and collected captain lose his cap and cool as he sprints down the aisle and throws his shoulder into the cockpit door. 

The co-pilot has secured the door from inside, overriding the door lock override. Some sick, predetermined notion inside the co-pilot's mind has him taking the plane out of auto-pilot and steering it directly toward the approaching mountain peak. With steady breath, clear eyes and no facial expression whatsoever, the co-pilot pushes forward on the handle that controls ascending and descending altitude. Forward is for descending.

With clenched fists, growling mouth and bulging red eyes, our captain begins banging on the cockpit door with all his might, screaming commands at the co-pilot inside to open up and let him in.  We feel the front of the plane dip sharply, an increase in airplane speed and the push back pressure of a quickly falling descent. I'm blinded by the pressure. All I hear are cries, screams and prayers.  The co-pilot never makes a sound and the descent never ends. Crazy.

A moment of silence is now in order for those aboard Germanwings flight 9525.





Lord, why when one of us is broken he or she turns away from your healing grace and chooses their own shattered will?  Lord, hear my prayer.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Golden State Warriors - On Fire

Eric be easy on the cut, no mistakes allowed
Cause to me, MC means move the crowd
I made it easy to dance to this
But can you detect what's coming next from the flex of the wrist


Read more: Rakim - Eric B Is President Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

The Golden State Warriors continue to just "move the crowd."  A few nights ago at home, hosting the team with now the second best record in the NBA (Atlanta Hawks), the Warriors just blew the roof off the motha! 

As longtime Warriors fans we here in the Bay Area are covered in pock marks from pinching ourselves, asking over and over again are they that good? With the win over the Hawks the other night that question was answered loud and clear with a resounding Yes, Yes, Yes!

Not only can the Warriors all-stars assist, shoot and defend, but their bench players are doing just what's needed to bring home the championship trophy; they're stepping up their games and letting the starters rest a bit more down the regular season stretch. Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Justin Holiday, Leandro Barbosa.  Yes, "The Brazilian Blur" BarBosa! Lighting up the house with an up tempo style so dominating that good visiting teams are left shaking their heads in wonder and disbelief.

Its a NBA season that has us desperate Warriors fans drooling all over ourselves, babbling like babies at a three ring circus. Cotton Candy, Ice Cream and tons of Popcorn have been our basketball diet these past months. And we are going to continue stuffing ourselves with all the sticky sweets and buttery flavors until.....until......dare I say it?  Until we win it all dammit!  

I've always had a thing for that fabulous fat lady who can be heard tuning up her voice in anticipation of singing the praises of a champion.  From where I'm sitting, the bitch looks bored, waiting for what she and us Warriors fans believe to be inevitable; a return to a glorious championship title.

Yes, Yes, Yes! The Warriors 2015 have come out to play and win. Gold and Blue Baby, Gold & Blue....

As of this posting:

Jazz 11

(31-37, 14-20 away)

Warriors 16

(55-13, 32-2 home)





The Fat Lady Singing In 1978


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Money Well Spent

Come on Raiders; you weren't able to land any big name free agents, you've got monies that must be spent, nothing big added to the offense so far and yet you still have two of your better players in WR Rod Streater and C Stefen Wisniewski unsigned?  

Why?

I understand that top NFL talent may not wanna bring their show to Oakland, so why not keep some of the talent that's already here? Streater and Wisniewski are Raider bred and should be made offers.  I do like what we've added on defense, especially in the linebacking corps, but our inability to add much on offense has me looking at these two young veteran Raiders for some help.

I know we've added the center from KC, but I feel Wiz could give us some depth on that O-line.  As for Streater, you could say he's been our best, most consistent receiver since being drafted, barring the injury.

Time for the Raiders brain trust to stop sleep walking their way through free agency and start making top athletes offers that they just can't refuse. What the heck is Adrian Peterson's situation? Someone make a phone call. Let's hope the Draft goes somewhat hotter than the free agency transactions to date. 



King Heroin

Heroin use has been on an epidemic rise in the United States for over a decade.  I once heard its effects being described as feeling on vacation, lying on the most blissful sea breezed beach, having the most intense orgasm of your life. Of Your LIFE!

I was introduced to the James Brown single "King Heroin" by my older brother in the 1970's, a decade that saw drug use and abuse reach record proportions. James Brown might not have been the most drug-free musician to sing an anti-drug song, but how he sang it made the message loud and clear to many of that generation; 
"Get your mind together and Get Away From Drugs."

Here we are forty-three years since Polydor Records released what would reach number six on the Hot Soul Singles chart; and still many of our young people are getting tripped up and turned out learning too late just why Heroin is King.  You don't really need a soulful song to highlight the dangers of Heroin, just find a nodding junkie with vomit-crusted lips after his morning taste and watch, and learn. 

Wonder why they call it Smack? Because it simply smacks you senseless to any and everything in your environment. You have no control over body or mind. You are at that moment of impact a zombie, barely able to stand, much less walk. Bodily fluids may seep, thoughts of any kind cease to materialize. Your as far away from family, friends and loved ones as a space shuttle launched into orbit. And your alone with no guarantee of return.

Sure there are bad environments in our world, but escape through drugs is no escape at all; its condemning yourself to one of the worse hell's on earth. You lose everything. And the sadness of it all is that those addicts who overdose and don't wake up are considered by some to be the lucky ones. To hear fellow addicts tell it, they're somewhere making love, enjoying the sea breeze. In reality they're just dead!



Lyrics to King Heroin
Ladies and Gentlemen
Fellow Americans
Lady Americans
This is James Brown

I wanna talk to you about one of our
Most deadly
Killers in the country today

I had a dream the other night, and I
Was sittin' in my living room
Dozed off to sleep
So I start to dreamin'

I dreamed I walked in a place and
I saw a real strange, weird object
Standin' up talkin' to the people
And I found out it was Heroin
That deadly drug that go in your veins

He says:

I came to this country without a passport
Ever since then I've been hunted and sought

My little white grains are nothin' but waste
Soft and deadly and bitter to taste

I'm a world of power and all know it's true
Use me once and you'll know it, too

I can make a mere schoolboy forget his books
I can make a world-famous beauty neglect her looks

I can make a good man forsake his wife
Send a greedy man to prison for the rest of his life

I can make a man forsake his country and flag
Make a girl sell her body for a five-dollar bag

Some think my adventure's a joy and a thrill
But I'll put a gun in your hand and make you kill

In cellophane bags I've found my way
To heads of state and children at play

I'm financed in China, ran in Japan
I'm respected in Turkey and I'm legal in Siam

I take my addicts and make 'em steal, borrow, beg
Then they search for a vein in their arm or their leg

So, be you Italian, Jewish, Black or Mex
I can make the most virile of men forget their sex

So now, no, my man, you must (you know) do your best
To keep up your habit until your arrest

Now the police have taken you from under my wing
Do you think they dare defy me, I who am king'

Now, you must lie in that county jail
Where I can't get to you by visit or mail

So squirm -- with discomfort -- wiggle and cough (hack!)
Six days of madness, hah! You might throw me off

Curse me in name! Defy me in speech!
But you'd pick me up right no if I were in your reach

All through your sentence you've become resolved to your fate
Hear now! younng man and woman, I'll be waitin' at the gate

Don't be afraid, don't run! I'm not chased
Sure my name is Heroin! You'll be back for a taste

Behold, you're hooked!
Your foot is in the stirrup
And make -- haste!
Mount the steed!
And ride him well
For the white horse of heroin
Will ride you to Hell!
To Hell!
Will ride you to Hell!
Until you are dead!
Dead, brother! Dead!

This is a revolution of the mind
Get your mind together
And get away from drugs!
That's the man!
Back! Back

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

The Ides of March - Madness

The term "Ides of March" refers to a day on the Roman calendar, March 15th, which corresponds with the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.  You know, I've always liked that pre-combat gladiator salute, ("Hail, Emperor (Caesar), those who are about to die salute you").




We modern day sports fans know all too well the relationship between gladiator combat and the month of March.  The NCAA basketball tournaments' Selection Sunday falls on March 15th of this year, AD.  That's when the 68 basketball teams are selected to battle it out for a chance to be crowned champion of the college hard court. 

Not only will there be Spartans and Trojans vying for an invite, but every fighting bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian and a few pesky insects (hornets) representing colleges, will be hoping for a chance to ball and battle their way into the tournament. Last I checked there were 346 Div. I teams and only 68 spots (seeds) making up the brackets.  Once in the tournament, lose and your dead, gone, finished. Win and you move on to your next challenger.

If you ask me its the biggest and most exciting post- Super Bowl sporting event to hit the new year calendar. There's enough buzzer beating moments and adrenalin-charged action to drive you .................MAD!

Get ready sporting fans; the Madness of March is about to salute you!