Work Appropriate Behavior

Alright, im going to need a some feedback to make sure i am not crazy. At my workplace there is a relatively new individual who has been there for maybe 2 or 3 months. Relatively hard working guy (i say that because he works two jobs). However it has come to some of his co-workers attention that he shaves in the bathroom at the job. Now there is a public mens restroom but there is also an individual restroom which is the one he uses. This has not been discovered once but twice. My co-worker recalls "he came to work shaggy and i saw him later in the day and he was groomed up". Now what i believe to be the worst part of this fiasco is that there are traces of hair after he leaves the restroom, granted it may be slight but...(shaking head)

When i first heard this my reaction was of pure and plenary disbelief. I said audibly " What is he THINKING?". This is not a complete grooming facility, there are no showers coupled with personal lockers! Am I crazy or do people do this at work. I thought that this was something you took care of at home. Do people do this? I think that i am going to have to sit down with this guy and have some dialogue because i think he is just mistaken.

Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This saturday is the beginning of the college football season, and with my passion exuding out of my skin i think its time to peruse the college football landscape. I told Hump i would be unbiased so i'll try to leave my LSU affections out of this. Here are some focal points before we kick off.

The Big 12 might be the most explosive conference this year. Look at the offenses, Texas still has Colt McCoy, Texas Tech still has Graham Harrell and the best receiver in the land Mike Crabtree, Oklahoma-still got it, even Mizzou brings back Chase Daniels, and Coach's son Cody Hawkins wasn't too bad slanging the rock at Colorado either. But that begs the question are these guys going to play any defense in that conference, and we also know how important it is to have a running game regardless of how good you throw the pill. The team i see closes to the pin is Texas, with new defense coordinator Will Muschamp from Auburn they're going to get more out of their defenders than they have in the past, i guarantee it and im sure they have a running game. Im sure Oklahoma is going to shoot themselves in the foot once again, i just know it. Side note: Nebraska has LSU's former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini and that should help them a little bit. But watch out for Crabtree and the gang, they remind me of Pitt in 03-04 when Fitzgerald was there but with a better quarterback.

Watch the evolution of the Big Ten and enjoy it. Much has been made of R.Rodriguez going to Michigan and bringing that wide open offense in his suitcase. Although much of the offense is gone the majority of the defense is returning and i really like that corner Donovan Warren. Progress is a slow process and we'll see what happens in Ann Arbor, they need some big wins because they've only had about one in the last five years. Illinois and Ron Zook were successful last season bringing more than "3 yards and a cloud of dust" and Ohio State is still the headliner of the conference and they used some of that spread offense pretty effectively. Chris Wells is a problem! And the receiving core has another year under their belt so the team should be even better than they were last year. So teams are starting to open it up in the Big 11. I really like where the Spartans are headed, coach Dantonio has the Spartans on the cusp of some good things, they just have to learn how to finish games and if they can do that then they should be able to make some real noise in the Big Ten. Wisconsin will continue to hang around and probably pull one of the top 3 spots in the conference once again.

The Pac-10 SHOULD be a rout, USC shouldn't lose to another Stanford and actually the defense on that team might be better than the offense with Ray Maualuga and Cary Harris holdin it down. Pete Carroll makes the best adjustments so they should be able navigate the Pac-10 but the trick is getting past Ohio State Sep.13, that should be the game of the year by the way. Oregon will not be as effective but im sure they have some talent cause they can get recruits off their jerseys alone. The only sleeper i see is Arizona State with Rudy Carpenter at the helm throwing to Mike Jones who had 10 touchdowns last year. Bottom line: the Pac-10 really isn't deep at all.

(Hump, Sutton, KT, and Finney don't judge me) The most uncertain conference will probably be the SEC. Everyone has fallen in love with Georgia and Knowshon Moreno, but they are going to have to try to clip the Gators in back to back years and they also have to travel to LSU and Auburn, and don't forget Tenn got them last year as well. This will be a good race even up to the last week. I think everyone needs to focus on Florida in this conference, with Tebow, Harvin, Rainey, and Moody they have multiple playmakers. The trick is whether that defense line can beef up and get stronger and not get blown off the ball against heavy rushing teams (but the defense line is quick).Im not sure they are quite flying under the radar but they certainly aren't getting all the attention. LSU has a huge question mark at quarterback after kicking Perrilloux off the team, Les Miles is creative and will come up with ways to use his playmakers but that's if the quarterback can get them the ball. And do not be misled by the absence of Dorsey, the defense is still ferocious and efficient (TRUST ME on this one, please). As much as it pains me to say this watch out for Ala...Ala... hold on... watch out for Alabama. Saban is a very efficient coach and will get a lot out of his team whether they have talent or not and but i think they just might e.g. Julio Jones.

The Big East is going to be fun but it won't be much suspense, Rutgers won't be as good without Ray Rice and Louisville really can't be taken seriously. Head of the class should be West Virginia with Pat White and Steve Slaton's replacement, Noel Divine. But im amazed at how quickly South Florida's program is rising and churning out athletes because they play FAST and DE George Selvie gets busy. And im not looking for UConn at all, sorry.

The ACC is the home of my cousin team the Clemson Tigers who i beg and implore to take the next step and win this conference, they have been ringing the doorbell long enough its time to bust in. They have dual RB's James Davis and C.J. Spiller with a decent quarterback in Cullen Harper, oh and don't forget wideout AK 80 (Aaron Kelly). The defense is solid when they want to be with Hamlin and Clemons anchoring the secondary. If they don't win im sure Tommy Bowden is outta there. Miami can't be the U yet especially when you have to suspend 7 players for the opener. FSU might get back on track but i just don't believe in Drew Weatherford under center, but i know papa Bowden can coach. Virginia Tech might have something to say especially if they use sophomore QB Tyrod Taylor along with their main stay starter Sean Glennon.

Sorry no C-USA or MAC talk. But the season is going to be unpredictable again. Now that all the TV exposure for everybody has spread out the recruiting battles, the talent is all over the place once again. I say USC and Texas will probably end the season in a 05-06 rematch for the national championship game. My heisman prediction is that it will land with a certain running back in the state of Ohio. Now that i am through being objective i can say LSU is the best team in the land until somebody takes the title from us, the Bayou Bengals are back and we'll make it exciting for everybody once again, so tune in on Saturdays usually on CBS at around 2:30 or 5:30.

Thanks for Your Support?

I recently read an article about whether or not the overt support of Obama from the hip hop community was actually going to hurt his quest for the presidency. Artists such as Jay-z, Nas, Ludacris, Kanye West and a host of others were mentioned. The underlying focus of the report was on how comments from the artists can be attached to Obama similarly to "Crab In a Barrel Wright." But the piece also took a different angle and subtly begged the question, is it wrong that Obama does not transparently support hip-hop?

Musician Scarface insisted that it may be best right now for artists to support Obama quietly. Citing Luda's mixtape reference to McCain and Clinton he urged the people to look at how far that got blown out of proportion - and that was on a mixtape! South Carolina mixtape master Chuck T took a totally different perspective on the potential president, calling Obama a traitor and says that he has no plans to vote for him. His explanation was because Obama keeps turning his back on everyone that he knows, i.e. Wright, Ludacris, and Bernie Mac. He pointed out that Obama invited Bernie Mac to the roast knowing completely well who he was, suggesting that the two already had a relationship.

America appears to have a perspective issue as it clearly makes no sense to attach another man's words to someone else, only you can speak for you. I perceive that a lot of media strictly looks to separate and create dissension among a cohesive group. And if you think about it this way, perhaps Ludacris was his cousin, would they want Obama to denounce his relationship with a family member because of something the guy said (and black folk know they all cousins)? As a leader it is important to understand the importance of helping people, it would be wisest for any leader to unite as many people as he can and accept their support graciously, then and only then can you sit down and dialogue about the differences in perspectives and hopefully someone is enlightened because of that. If you straight cut away from them then what good does that do any of the parties involved.

America is an extremely polarizing culture and im aware that some people will say that's just the way it is. But here on the sofa that's not how we operate, we don't just accept the status quo. As a matter of fact this is about Obama and he is fundamentally a symbol of change. As far as the artists impact if any on the campaign, the jury is still out.

That's just my interpretation of the situation.

One for W. and the Gang

The woman LinkedIn with al-Qaeda on the FBI's most wanted list was caught just a few days ago, although not without a major blunder. AAfia Siddiqui was apparently spotted outside of a government compound in Afghanistan. After being questioned, the officials ensued to search her bag. To their surprise they found numerous documents describing the creation of explosives along with various descriptions of landmarks in the United States including one of New York city, she was also in possession of substances contained in glass bottles and jars. Why she was carrying all this around with her i do not know, but i am glad she was on this particular day.

Here is the perplexing plot. Siddiqui was detained in a government building in what is described as a meeting room behind a curtain. FBI special agents, U.S. Warrant officer, and an Army Captain would all later enter the room together unaware that the highly coveted fugitive was behind the curtain. The army captain laid his U.S. issued M-4 assault rifle on the floor, you guessed it near the curtain. The following scene has Siddiqui holding the rifle pointed at the captain and yelling something negative. Army Captain lunges forward to knock away the rifle shots were fired, nobody was hit. The warrant officer revealed his 9mm handgun and blessed Siddiqui with a couple of rounds although reports indicate she was only hit once. Although she was hit she still wasn't going out without a fight, she fought and kicked as the officials tried to subdue her, eventually detained and lost consciousness Siddiqui was taken to receive medical treatment.

She is now SECURELY detained and faces multiple charges. Right now though, still innocent until proven guilty. 1 for W and the team, well that depends on how you feel about the government. But I have to ask this before i grab my coat and hat, why didn't they tell them that she was behind that curtain and extremely available to use weaponry, with both hands.

Im so Sneaky

This is something I saw a while ago. It touches on the sneaker culture a little bit and that is an aspect of life that i am very passionate about. I figured i could share some of my soul with people through these passionate individuals. The video is about 14mins. take a look if you have time. Its slightly more informative than you think. "Me collecting sneakers is a manifestion of my love for art".

What we Drinking Tonight!?

There is a motion from approximately 100 college presidents to lower the drinking age back to 18. This includes universities such as Duke, Morehouse, Ohio State, and Dartmouth. Presidents generally cited reasons of inconsistency from the student body as far as following the law, they understand that students commonly evade the law and apparently it is a cumbersome rule for them to enforce. This motion has been building steam for about a year. The presidents also used the rhetoric of "too young to drink, but old enough to fight for your country".

However every president has not jumped on board, Donna Shalala, president of the "U" (Miami Univ.) remembers when the drinking age was 18 and she apparently thinks progress has been made. Shalala was also on president Clinton's staff as the secretary of health as well. Also MAAD (no surprise here) spoke up as ardent proponents against the lowering of the drinking age, insisting that universities are taking a back door and avoiding the problem. Also insinuating that lowering the age would alleviate them of the onus of policing their campuses for underage drinking and not help make campuses a safer place.

I do not know if lowering the age would quell any problems around college campuses. However, I do know that it does create two different populations and with everyone amalgamated it is extremely tough to police everyone differently. If universities want to help then perhaps they just have to be a little more animate about enforcing their rules. Its not something that can totally be resolved without intruding on the privacy of the students. It should be interesting to see how this one plays out. Alcohol is overrated anyway, they need to make illegal to drink juice until you twenty one, then everyone will get on the healthy bandwagon trying to sneak orange juice into the dorms. That's really how you solve the problem!

Age ain't nothing but a Number

Just when i was full of zeal about the Olympics they had to give me some controversial news. The news that i am referring to cites the women's Chinese gymnastics team with underage competitors. Some report has one of the gymnast at age 13, the minimum age required to compete is 16. Before this was even an issue i queried in my head, "man why these Chinese girls look so little". And now i have my answer. Just nine months before the Oly's (that's what im callin em, O-lees) the Chinese government's news agency reported He Kexin was 13. Of course Chinese delegates refuted the claim. Sorry China im going with my gut on this one.

China has gone through a lot for these Oly's, after reading reports and listening to accounts of what took place before these games it is clear that China has placed a large amount of pressure on it's athletes to have great showings. China appears to view these games as a chance to show the world how high on the totem pole they really are. That was evident from the opening ceremony, which was stand out material. Journalistic reports have outlined the burden that some of the Chinese gymnasts carry as they are implored to do well and bring back GOLD medals. Im not insinuating that this is the reason they have gone to what i believe to be dubious measures to inch closer to gold, but i will say that it is not a stretch. For instance America values the Oly's but i don't know if we use it to define us as a nation, we just take it for granted that our athletes will do well and nobody is extremely overjoyed when we win because we're supposed to--aside from Phelps who is growing gills day by day.

As brought to my attention by Autumn Jones, mumbling has been going on about China's attempt to mask a lot of things for the Oly's. But that is just part of the process, when the games were in Atlanta efforts were made to remove unwanted street dwellers among other things and present the best possible image. I know China has infamous places like Tiennamen Square which seems to be revered now despite the many executions that took place there. However when any guests comes to your home you want to clean up a bit.

Let's enjoy the Oly's and take it all in. If the ladies used gymnasts slightly below the age suggestion, hey what can you do. We'll just know the next time not to trust them with anything, like i don't know....a WMD.

The World is Ours

The Olympics are the greatest spectacle on earth! Watching the numerous nations assemble together in one location is humbling. Frankly, everybody in the world is so beautiful. Im real zealous right now, looking at the pride all of these nations have for their respective homelands. An event like this is truly magnificent and urges us to realize how small of a world portion we sample everyday. I love these people!

I need to develop a broader palette of friends. Im about to get a correspondent or a friend in 15 countries so i can keep tabs on the pulse of the world, or at least im going to try. I suggest we all make an effort to expand our circles and step out of our comfort zones. Im trying to learn spanish by the way and whoever wants to help me do it let me know, perhaps thats why i had a dream last night that i was buying Pimsleurs Spanish program. Lets step our world game up.

God is love
Rev Run

Naw im just clowning- PEACE, literally and figuratively.

Hotmail is China's friend

Small piece of information here, Microsoft is not letting potential email users utilize the word "tibet" in their email address. Microsoft insist that this barricade is in existence to prevent users from imitating financial institutions and employ "phishing schemes" or impersonations of that nature. In this case a spokeswoman from Microsoft commented that there is a bank in Florida, TIB Bank and that is why names with "tib" are not accepted.

Now the cynicism begins, just as the Olympics are on schedule to begin tomorrow (unofficially). With China looking to chivy away from all inquiries about their treatment of the Tibetans its awkward timing that this would surface now. Especially when you consider the amount of money the Chinese have lent the American economy (hundreds of billions of dollars), we almost have no money. You wonder why everything says made in China and although many complain we still send everything over to China to be produced, its not only for the cheap labor (I think im going to embark on that dialogue another day). Anyhow its not as if someone with the word "tibet" in their hotmail address is a threat to the freedom of all nationalities everywhere. Maybe Microsoft is being honest but i find this whole thing ironic. Im just imparting the little information i have, from all angles.

Some Men's Fashion Commentary

This post is for the guys, (sorry ladies, but you may want to check it out for your man) I came across 8 Men's Fashion Mistakes to Avoid. Since im an exceptionally yet unconventionally dapper individual, I "Wallo the Fresh Doctor", the fashion savant, have taken initiative to add my commentary to their suggestions. Check out these faux pas and make sure you're not perpetuating these errors.

1. Socks with Sandals- This should really go without saying, because really the idea of sandals is to give your feet a little liberation to indulge in the same air quality that the rest of your skin gets. Socks with sandals is a travesty through and through. By the way do not exacerbate the situation and wear socks with thong sandals.

2. Novelty Ties, Boxers, Shirts etc.- Symbols such as smiley faces, lobsters, or triceratops should not checker your clothing articles. If nothing else its redundant and counter-artistic. Not to mention it dates your clothes because its hard not to notice that pattern every time you wear it.

3. Blaring Designer Labels- This is one that the urban constituents struggle with...this will help you in your efforts to endorse or billboard your allegiance to the label, but then again why would you want to do that if you don't have any stock in the company. Bottom line it looks like your trying too hard and its gaudy.

4. Backpacks at the Office- I don't have much of a quarrel with this because im going to make backpacks cool. But with a suit and/or office attire it just looks like your going hiking... but only to the 28th floor.

5. Chunky Shoes- Now this really applies to men and women, just because you have a larger sole doesn't mean you have more support. But for your shoes gentlemen nix the square toe approach, although in the D(etroit) this memo probably wont make it to the gator pimps.

6. Shiny or Glittery Shirts and Suits- You shouldn't even have any of these in your closet because that's just wrong. If you're not on dancing with the stars save the glitter for the 5th grade art class.

7. Clothes that are too loose fitting- Now, THEY said unless you're a hip hop artist (I was offended too, just playing!) but really it doesn't do much for anybody outside of the nuns.

8. Unflattering Colors- You have to put your colors in the game subtly, for instance don't get the all lime green shirt, get the black shirt that has some lime green in it. Really you need a plan when you're breaking the special colors out, don't wing it.

You're welcome, YOU'RE ALL WELCOME!

This ain't Football!

There is certainly an excess of downtime in the summer for the sports media as is indicated by the ubiquitous coverage of Brett Favre. The sports population is so inundated with irrelevant and occasionally bogus facts about Brett Favre by the media behemoth ESPN that it is extremely transparent their infatuation has turned into obsession. In their anxiety to report anything, ESPN reported for multiple days that Brett used a company issued cell phone to call another team, well that was incorrect. When I speak of the media here I am referring to ESPN (ESPN2 or ESPN Radio basically all of its subsidiaries). They have talked about this approximately every week day in the month of July.

Where is the discernment? All of this stuff is not newsworthy. We get reports like there is a charter plane booked to leave Hattiesburg, MS therefore Brett might be heading to Green Bay. We get things like Brett SIGNED his letter of reinstatement, now keep in mind it hasn't been processed or sent in to the league office at all, he just put his john hancock on a piece of paper. They told us an approximate time his plane should land in Green Bay-for what!? Let me know when something really happens. This is pretty much a reality show and the Plushredsofa constituents know how i feel about reality shows. ESPN2 show First Take has deemed this a soap opera (appropriately) and has leterally taken the time to show pictures of actors who they would cast to play differnt roles in this story. They really have to find more topics. What ever happened to no news is good news?