FOOTBALL HUSBANDS

Once again the title says it all.  Some of these NFL players are fooling themselves to think that it is not time to hang up the cleats and move on to the board room or whatever major you considered other than football.

It is astonishing to me how often you here sob stories some valid and others just absurd of a professional athlete that could not transition from the game to the real world.  In this case I’m not talking coaching even though that can be a fruitful option but that is only going to work for a few.  Makes you wonder, what they got a degree in if they have no awareness of what is next in one’s life.

For example, a business major should have some business in mind that they want to venture off into.  An education major a teaching career or a journalist major a broadcasting career and the list goes on and on.  But not in the real world, these men and women are finding regular sales jobs that pay pennies on the dollar in comparison to what they once made.

After watching the Kendra show it made me even wonder further, why would Hank think that he had to drag his family from city to city in hopes of him getting signed to a team when his wife actually is the celebrity and major bread winner at home?  Does a male’s, man hood lessen with his income or is he the same man no matter what?  But beyond that can he lower his pride-o-meter one bit to see it right.  His career may have been over 2yrs ago but since he married into some money it was lingering a little longer.

Even in his prime he was not a legitimate “premiere” receiver, he was still good enough to make several squads but no to make the big money.  In all the preparations that these athletes make for their respective seasons do they take the time to develop outside interests that can one day replace athletics?  From day one they know that it can be over in a moment’s notice due to injuries and a slew of other reasons.  Some even seems perplexed at the thought of giving it all up for something that they have never thought twice about setting up before their actual retirement.

In Hanks case he can always move to L.A. and become a Househusband of L.A. or start his own TV series called FOOTBALL HUSBANDS.

IF THE MONEY IS IN CHINESE LEARN IT

Since I’m on a lot of social network sites and forums I see stupid things at a higher rate than most people and have gotten utterly annoyed by this one.  United States citizens are the only people on this planet that have a problem with this one.  If you do business in or with a foreign country why would you not consider learning that foreign countries language of choice?

How arrogant can you be that you fell your language is so great that everyone should learn yours and you not learn theirs.  It’s not like they came here to make money but you went there to make money.  If their money is in Chinese then you better learn to speak Chinese.  We all say that we only see green than learn how to count and read their green.

Then the same people complain about getting beat out of money and how unethical the businesses are overseas.  As if, they themselves have never beat any consumer or person on a poorly negotiated transaction, when the opportunity presented itself.  No country has a law that takes into consideration ignorance let alone negligence, which is obvious in this case.

With products like Rosetta Stone and so many others there is simply no excuse for not making a serious effort to learn foreign languages, especially if you are going to be doing business in or whit that country.  The reward outweighs the risk astronomically seeing that there really is no draw back in wowing some foreign interest with learning their language as a sign of commitment.

90 DEGREES IN NOVEMBER

LOL I just can’t believe what the weather is like in So Cal right now.  When we should be breaking out the jackets the chicks out here are jumping back into the bathing suits they never got to wear in one of the coldest summers in history.

I mean we’ve had record breaking heat every day with no exception.  The other day it triple digits in the winter.  The gods must be crazy right.  With all that said I kind of appreciate the bikini clad women prancing around the pools and spas like its mid August.

The only tragedy is that we have gone from cold rainy weather to hot in the matter of two days and most people are catching colds.  Just think in a few days it will turn back cold and we will have to fight the winter flu season with weakened immune systems.

Even with all of the chances of coming down with the flu I still refuse to take those damn flu shots.  Those things are guaranteed to get you sick and it still may be the wrong strand.  Our medical system is a hoax, but that is for another day and another time.  So get all the Echinacea tea you can find and Vitamin C so you can boost that immune system it’s going to be a long flu season.

BANKS BORROW MONEY

This is not an economic bailout thing that we have seen happen recently in this country.  No this is some concoction some brilliant financial genius came up with many years ago.  To get the public to loan business money without them even knowing that they have loaned the money out.

Now let me show you the greatest hustle that man ever invented.  If you give the bank X amount of dollars they in turn give you a fraction of that money back in the form of interest but pennies on the dollar.  After they get you to give them the money they in turn use it to purchase commodities and loan money to consumers.  The bank charges in most cases on an average of 10% but actually pay out less that 1% then charges you fees to access the monies that you have loaned them.  This is worst than loan sharking.

Believe it or not we have become totally dependent on the banking system as it is; we cannot and will not survive economically without it.  The genius part is that it has balanced the economic state of our generation.  Who knew that robbing people of their hard earned money then finding a way for them to pay for it would create stability in a chaotic world full of multiple currencies?

I’m not saying take your money out of banks and put them into a mattress.  What I am saying is find a way to pool your resources and get the banks to loan you back some of the money they have borrowed from you.

MONEY DOES NOT EXIST

Another blog by myself that is pretty self explanatory to those in the “know.”  Believe it or not we still barter in pretty much the same way that our ancestors did it.  In our time it is just more centralized based on a countries financial standing.

A dollar is the same denare of times past or shekel of biblical times or plain sea shell during more primitive eras.  Once you come to that reality you can understand the deeper meaning of what money is.  It is nothing more than a very popular an instantly liquid promissory note.

Now this blog can end here but that would not be consistent to how I do things so let me expound on what I have seen (LOL Songs of Solomon reference).

Money is mildly different from any other promissory note like homes, cars or anything else similar.  The variance is the speed of the escrow that comes with the others or the transfer of value.  With the others you have to verify the authenticity of ownership outright where money is “finders keepers losers weepers.”

This is the reason that so many get lost in the phenomenon of inflation and depreciation of the value of money.  It also keeps us from understanding how banks and other similar institutions function on a global scale.  They turn money into a commodity much like homes and not stock.

CAN SEE THE MONEY IF YOUR BLIND

Life is an uphill battle both physically and mentally, many of us lose the battle before the fight is ever underway.  It amazes me how Americans are not taught any school how to survive in the real world.  Meaning that there are no job application classes in High School or conflict resolution or anything else needed to make an honest living in the job market.

They tell you to study Algebra and Trigonometry or write multiple pages of dribble on essays.  Some offer business classes that study antiquated case studies that place businesses into a microscope and fail to address real world scenarios.  Things like the allocation of stocks for an S or C corporation, even why and how to utilize effectively both types of stock allocations.  Many business owners began only knowing the use of the fiduciary stocks and not the true power or voting stocks.  Hostile takeovers begin the day that you sign your Articles of Corporation not when some wealthy company walks in and strips your baby out of your hands.

Making money is the goal of every business but it is the last course you usually will take.  They want to teach you the history of a business sector that you have researched extensively for several years then tell you how operations work only to get into the real world and find out something different.

I remember taking my Real Estate and Insurance exams and finding out how the laws were derived and who set up the first legal documents.  But the actual negotiation part of the jobs where you make the money is totally left out.  How do you get the consumer to say yes I want to buy from or work with your company and I will pay top dollar.

Then they charge you half a quarter of a million dollars and you can’t make the money needed to pay off student loans.  One thing for sure I thank God for the hood and all my old friends that taught me how to hustle and make money “do what it do.”

I would venture to say that 90% of all failing businesses have forgotten how to make money.  Meaning that we are not printing less money, instead we have printed more yet many cannot find a way to be profitable.  If you can’t see the money it is for certain that you cannot make it.  So use your other senses like the rat and find the cheese that they have moved.

ANOTHER CRAPPY BLOGGER

Let me start by saying this is a factual statement and not my opinion.

No apologies will be made on this one, LOL, seeing that most of the top bloggers have no business giving expert opinion on what they have become popular for.  Just because you buy something as a consumer does not make you an expert.  That is in music, tech, business, sex, psychology or whatever else it is that many have delved into.  There is almost a sense of backwardness that the actual experts are on the comments arguing their points of views, which by the way are fact driven and not just some rant about personal feelings.

Now I do not profess to be the smartest man in the world but some of things that I have read on bloggish articles and dictionaries are appalling.  To think that mainstream America has embraced these blogs as expert commentary.

Just because you understand SEO and tag lines you have become the expert at what is and what is not the best product on the market.  The reasoning behind it is not even concrete.  Can they even tell the difference between a real or fake.  Probably not but they can install some software that drives hits to their sites.  To think that this is the direction that even the press has embraced, telling watered down and emotional stories that lead to speculation instead of truth.

At least I state that my blogs are opinion but when I do delve into some expertise of mine I will reference what makes my point of view valid.  Note I did not say expert, you are judge an expert by peers and not self affirmation.

What does a 16 year old know about anything of great substance anyway?  Not to say there aren’t any exceptions to the rules but this is the going trend of the day.  I’ve read articles (blogs) about how to make money doing something that the writer has not done but knows someone who shared a testimonial with them.  We all have read articles (blogs) on industry standards from a person that has just got into the business that they have become an expert in overnight.  Then we wonder why it does not work for us.

Business used to be about finding the winning formula.  You start with A then you move to B, follow the letters all the way down to Z then you become the master of your trade.  Once you’ve mastered a thing you mentor and duplicate your formula.  When you are tired and grey you sit down and write a book to share what you know and love to others that may be struggle or in need of direction.  Now industries are ran by novices who have studied books on subject matter with no job experience and we ignorantly buy them and make them rich.

Were I come from young people are told to be quiet and wait their turn to speak.  Now-a-days it is the other way around.  The wisdom has left the building and given way to pure speculation.

CORPORATE AMERICAN HATE OF URBAN MARKETS

After working the corporate structure for so many years 20 to be exact, I know one thing for certain.  To think of the urban areas as an uneducated group is to underestimate the level of disrespect that they truly have for their urban supporters.  “Supporters” is a very appropriate word to use seeing that even through recessionary times the “hood” has been a big consumer.

I used to complain about the Asian business owner that took over our favorite eatery or that sells product at the Swap Malls.  After being in retail since ’93 off and on one thing that I am certain of is that the Asians are more respectful than they ever have shown themselves to be.

Who else would come on national TV and say that they did not make their products to be consumed so heavily by urban “Blacks” (Timberland, Cristal, and Tommy Hilfiger).  The saddest fact is that we still wear and consume these products at high rates and have for 20 years or more.  Do we really want respect in the hood or do we just want to wear what they wear (rich whites).

Let’s get this straight I’ve been a buyer’s assistant for high end fashion companies where I was the person dealing with the designers, sales reps, warehouses and retail stores.  The buy just reviewed the product, chose, then handed the spread sheet to me to do the rest.  Then I moved on to helping others open there own retail stores in different area.  I’ve been in meetings where things have been distastefully discussed about the thought of product reaching areas considered “ghetto.”  The thought of working with Blacks initially drew some concerns but after finding out that we were all corporate trained many of the vendors would be at ease.  They found that we actually had a better overall knowledge of the business and no desire to serve the “hood” since we were opening stores in the Inland Empire or West Side of L.A.

Many of them began asking us business related questions on their product asking for feedback.  This was in 2004 and we still get calls from vendors to open another store since we closed the first one due to personal disagreements (watch who you go into business with).

Now let’s address the issue of dealing with business relations in the inner city, let me just say that it has been some of the worst business experiences in my life.  Not to say that many of them I did not see coming but the idea that the owner would take pay roll to Vegas and trick it off was beyond me.  Then you watch the “white people’s ice is colder than blacks” syndrome, I would tell them one thing and they would ask the same question to someone white and go with them.  After time they would call me back to fix a problem that I had warned them about in the beginning and to their surprise the person that they went to had no idea what they were talking about.  Did I help at first but after a few years I learned to say “I’m so sorry but what’s done is done.”

Another problem with the “Urban Retailer” is that many of them open businesses after failing to transition into good employees.  Some feel that their ability to shop will help them forecast trends 6 months in advance.  Just because you think this shirt should be over there with these pants do not mean that your visual presentation is correct.  The floor has to flow like one unit transitioning from section to section.  Then setting up manikins is a whole other dilemma that they have no prior experience dealing with and do not understand the need to layer for visual effects not practicality.  Visual effects often time is the difference between companies getting a vendor or not 90% of the time.

The last issue I want to delve into with this blog (another will follow about some other major issues) addresses, credit checks are a routine determinant in who gets consignment and who does not.  How is this different than getting anything else in life, but what many don’t realize is the rep has the ability to then give you options.  These options will include lines that need products moved or overflow (lates) that the need to sell to meet numbers.  Just because you want Baby Phat does not mean you get Baby Phat today, shortsightedness can kill your business before it starts.  Get a alternative product that visually is appealing with the quality (usually it has a higher grade) that the brand you want has.

The key to starting any business is starting.  Many business owners try too hard to make profit before they actually open their doors.  Basically destroying their business before they even start it, think of it this way, your dept margins will be far higher than the time period you have before your capital reserves are gone.  Don’t forget this is cash in carry even if you use credit now you must consider high interest rates and overhead.

TOURING IS BREAD AND BUTTER

Many artists want to be successful in the entertainment industry.  Making money is the largest part of the equation that most will tell you.  Some where down towards the end is the actual inspiration that made most of us fall in love with this form of art.  To perfect something you must do it over and over again, then listen to the critiques and fans and tweek things accordingly.

This is a part of the Entertainment Industry and grabbing and tugging on your nuts, while screaming into a unresponsive microphone, to sub par quality beats, does not equate to a good experience for both parties.  If your focus is to make money and increase your following, there has to be something there that makes fans feel like your shows are a must see.  Think about it when did you not tune in to a free Michael Jackson concert or video.

People talk about sponsorships every day when I converse with them.  Sponsor only support highly active acts that spend more time performing live than bull jiving in the studio. They want to see if you can reach the people on a one-on-one level.  Is it a big sacrifice, no most artists spend a large amount of time hanging out and drinking anyway, at least get paid to do it.

Now venues understand that you need them more than they need you.  When that happens you have to think of more creative ways to make money.  Why not invite more people to a show and sell physical tickets, it will put more money in your pocket.  Beyond that it will give you tangible evidence that you can produce a following to other venues and prospective sponsors.  You can also bring other items to sell and get more exposure by handing out apparel, CDs, hats or what ever else.  Again this is tangible evidence that you are a marketable commodity and can sell product.

For the seasoned and experienced artists gigs are the place that they make the bread and butter to sustain their lives and careers.  If as a young up and coming act, you can not see this, you will continue to MAJOR IN THE MINORS and will be a bitter has been in no time.

OPERETIC HIP HOP

One thing for sure about the music that’s coming out now is the quality is definitely equal.   Whether you are major or indie supported in concerns to labels there is very little difference.  What is very reassuring is how so many young producers have shown a appreciation for full tracks that have the top and bottom.

The good thing about having a top and bottom to every track is it actually gives the listening a better experience.  Many don’t understand that the oratory nerve can only process a set amount of notes at the same time.  This is why sometimes you can hear a track over and over again and hear different things each time.  But giving the listeners a full range you increase the enjoyment.

At the same time the production is standing alone, as the actual rap or lyrics are not complimenting the complexity of the track.  It forces the lyricist to be more in tune with the timing and cadence of the track.  Even the slightest miscue is amplified.

I’m not saying that new MCs are not dope, this has nothing to do with the lyrics it has to with their understanding of the need to stay in the pocket of the music when the producer takes a track to the next level.  When you hear an opera the greatest part is how the singer narrates the music with their vocal chords and not lyrics.

Bottom line is Hip Hop music is getting better on the side of the quality in tracks but digressing in the MCing category.  It is something that can be easily fixed so I am confident Hip Hop has received its second wind.

GANGSTA RAPPERS…PAUSE

I know they have been saying it for a while but here it goes again.  After going through some music on the internet sites I noticed a rapper that I’ve known since he was young.  Then realized that he was a gangster rapper… pause.

At this point my heart was kind of hurt since this was a good nice dude one of those that was charming and charismatic.  The type of cat that definitely got it in terms of how to get anything he wanted in life with his wit.  It made me ask myself what happened that made him turn...pause

Remember in the late ‘90’s seeing him and inquiring about one of his church buddies that I saw out in and about affiliating with some lil knuckle headed gangstas.  He began to explain to me how that is why he kind of had to stop messing with the guy.  Okay so he knew that he was heading in the wrong direction and wanted to avoid it himself…pause.

Then I saw the same guy at my church at a youth function we had, he was hanging out with some younger friends that lived near him.  This placed him in an area that I was more than familiar with since I spent my High School years hanging out in the same areas.  They were known for having lightweight gang activity but nothing gully…pause.

Fast-forward to now and he banging hard on some track about bang bang boogie stuff.  At this point I was floored on one hand I was excited to see another little hommie doing his music thing.  On the other hand I was appalled at the content of the hard core lyrics and swag, he talking about killing niggas? (huh)…pause.

20 plus years I’ve been frequenting this neighborhood and I can count the number of dudes that I would certify as a killer on two hands and he isn’t one of them.  But what I do know is that most of the young guys that do not go to college or move away wind up getting caught up with the hood.  With that said they are known more for boxing than shooting even then they are not a hard core gang area with homicidal tendencies…pause

Don’t get me wrong do I know everything that he has been through or done in his life, NO.  The point that I am making is these dudes need to stop putting all these extras into their entertainment profiles.  I still got plenty of love for dude and will do my research on his stripes since I know all his big hommies (LOL and they know me) who will give me the real.  I’m not saying he isn’t from the hood I’m just saying but talking bagging bodies on interviews…pause