Out On The Stoop is my exploration about things to know, talk about or experience these amazing times. The Stoop mantra is Think, think, it ain't illegal yet.
So I'm just about ready to launch the audio podcast. I've had to speed learn about audio production, distribution and making it good.
My head hurts. It is like looking at the above highway sign. I know the
form and the shape I want the podcast to take. I can see it and almost
hear it in my head.
But I gotta get it out of my head and into the real world. I tell you, working with video is easier for me but you gotta try something new.
So, what have I learned:
Number 1.
I do not want to do an interview show. When you start to learn about audio podcasting 99.999% of it is geared toward creating interview shows. Nothing wrong with interview shows. Not a bit. But I don't want to do one. Okay, fine but many of the people teaching about building a podcast talk about Skype and interviewing.
There are audio theater podcasts. History podcasts. Educational, sci-fi and a whole bunch more than interview podcasts. I swear to Jeebus there isn't anybody left to interview.
Then again, if you learn the basics and chuck out what you don't need you can do anything you want once you ramp up to speed.
Which is why I want to give a shout out to the History Pocasters; these folks take history and sometimes craft it into visions of audio drama or edutainment. It is closer to the form that I want to try and it was really helpful.
Number 2
If you want piece of mind sometimes you have to pay for it. This means being more efficient with time and resources. I didn't have time to dog down certain photos, sound fx or music themes. I purchased royalty free music and images. I got what I wanted and got it off my to do list.
Number 3
Failure. Not a big fan of it. Here is the thing. I can work in Audacity. It is a great free audio editing program. But I can barely function in it. Part of that is trying to learn and use it at the same time. Never a good thing. I had to let go of ego and watch a couple of good and bad tutorials.
I was so frustrated that I used one of my video editing programs that can record audio to make prototypes. It was faster and I could test out ideas. That worked really well.
It just so happens that I had a music editing called Sony Acid Studio 10 on my computer that I like a whole lot better and found out that I can use it for podcast. I can move elements visually and bango chango it has made a huge difference.
So yeah, keep failing until you stumble into success.
I got a lot more failing I need to do so dig you later...
A few years ago I recorded some of the San Gabriel Valley Poets. Wouldn't mind doing it again but life changes have dictated a re-allocation of time and resources. I have a lot of video that I can't re-post because I've lost contact with many of the poets.
I have some verbal permissions; some on video but mostly by mouth. I should have had folks sign a card or something but such is life. Live and learn.
Anyway, this is a poem by the main dude of poetry around the SGV and parts beyond. It is a poem I believe was recorded in 2012 or early part of 2013.
If you happen to be in the Venice or Santa Monica areas around 7:30 p.m. you might want to stop by Beyond Baroque for a Celebration by the students of Anais Nin. If your fingers haven't flipped through Delta of Venus you have got a bit of catching up to do.
If you feel a bit of frost bite in the heart or other regions of the body you really should plunk down money for her books. That is the heathen side of me, paying more attention to the erotic work instead of her other works.
This is Nancy Shiffrin reading a work that you could say was inspired by Nin.
The participants will be Nancy Shiffrin, Leah Schweitzer and Nan Hunt.
For more info or if you are in the Los Angeles area and need a weekly dose of poetical or literary inspiration visit:
In the spirit of helping folks find stuff to do for your third year of staycation I have a peace offering to the theater. If you are near the La Canada Flintridge boarder I ask that you give serious consideration to a live theater experience at the La Canada Flintridge Shakespeare Festival.
I've got something for you.
This ain't your pappy's set of dry ole performances. I got the straight skivvy from one of the performers that MacBeth has been reinterpreted:
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, After the Autumn is a contemporary tragedy that asks the question: are we fated to be who we are, or do we have the power to change our own path?
I'm not just copying from the web site, one of the salt miner '49s is in the performance.
How many times can you stay at home at watching Mad Men anyway? Don't answer that.
Anyway, there is an opportunity to dine on the grass and experience the play as Shakespeare would have done it, outside under the stars. There are four plays that will alternate so if you don't want to take a chance on Mac there are other items for the selection.
No, it isn't free but it is very affordable. The performances take place at Byrnes Amphitheatre, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy's campus 440 St. Katherine Drive, La Canada CA 91011.
Bring your sweaters cuz it gets nippy outside after 8 p.m.
Sadly, the inadequacy of the Los Angeles mass transit system prevents me from attending but if you have a car in good condition you shouldn't have any problems.
So, in my exploration of how this video, Give Us Your Cash, a racist, sexist low class statement about a politician qualifications came into being? It is too easy to go with the usual answers.
You have to look at the American minstrel heritage to get a better understanding. This is a look at the structure of the performances.
It was a free for all until a structured theatrical format was created. Many of the sources that I read cite E.P. Christy's The Christy Minstrels as the first group that developed the framework of the performances.
One of the performers, G.W. Moore, wrote a book about his theatrical experiences, knowledge of the Ethiopian people and some of the routines of the day. The book is called Bones: his anecdotes and goaks [by] G.W. Moore, the original Christy Minstrel. I accessed the book at the Hathi Trust Digital Library. The book is in the public domain.
I'll let Mr. Moore help you get acclimated with the language of the performance and his opinion on the linguistical skills of the black population:
The black population of the United States, are quite different from the white, in the way they pronounce the English language, and also in their actions. I have seldom heard a negro say yes or no direct; for instance, if you ask a darkey to have a glass of brandy, (and he wanted it) he would say, " Pass it 'long," "Han em ober," or "Tote dat dis wa," but not " yes." Again, should he not want the brandy, he would say, "Ho's yu torkin tu ? dun did kum fulin yor time roun dis chile wid dat stuff," bwdt seldom "no."
Imagine that you are in a dark theater. The curtain goes up and you are transported to the 1800s.
Processional Entrance
The performers enter and present themselves to the audience, usually by music and dance. They are arraigned in a semi-circle facing the audience. Mr. Moore elucidates:
As far as I have been able to judge, I think that all the Ethiopian race are full of music. I knew a darkey who was Boots at the Eagle Hotel, Buffalo, every time he used to sit down to his meals, and before eating, he would sing— Dar's music in de frien pan, Dar's music in de kittel, Dar's music in de nife an fork, Wen I'm gwine to ete de wittel. Brandi wil be brandi, Anihow yu mix it; Nigger wil be nigger, Anihow yu fix it.
Basically you have white men in costume, black face make-up and wigs that are controlled by Mr. Interlocutor.
Mr. Interlocutor:
The Interlocutor was the medium/interpreter that communicated with the performers. Most of the time the interlocutor was also in black face make-up but not always. In this segment of the show the Interlocutor would set up the jokes of the day, songs and jabs. There would be two men, Mr. Tambo on the left and Mr. Bones on the right would respond to the questions using stereotyped expressions to float the joke.
From our text of the day comes an example of a routine that Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones might share with the audience:
A HEAVY BLOW. Sam. Sa, Bones, did yu here de news ? "We had de gratest blo doun our wa. Bones. "Wat a kurry kane ? S. Yes, wun ob dem kurricanes kum doun, and jus blow eberyting in de vilage hi, lo, Jack, an de game, it blow ebery house up, didn't lebe wun, blow ebery house up but mine. B. But yors ! how wus it yure house wusnt blone up ? S. We had a heaby morgage on it, dat kep it doun. B. Oh, we had wun ob dem in our vilage. S. Wat, a blo ? B. No, we had a firei S. Afire? B. Yes, red hot; jus kum in de vilage in de nite, an burn ebery house doun; den it kum in mi house, went up in de sellar, doun in de garret, all ober de furnitur, an neber spilt a ting. S. (astonished) Neber spilt a ting ? B. No, we sabe eberyting in de house but de pianner. S. Whi coodn't yu sabe de pianner. B. Bekase de engines coodn't pla on de pianner.
Olio or Specialty Acts
Next, the Interlocutor introduced specialty acts that had longer skits, dance numbers or songs or a combination. This is and example by Cotton and Chick Watts:
The specialty act could be a parody of a play, an extended dance number or what ever the talent could provide on that particular night. Often included in the specialty act was a "stump" speech by a political character who mangled proper English.
The Afterpiece:
This could be a riff on a opera, the musical joy and rapture of being on a southern plantation or an extended walk-around.
According to Mr. Moore, Blacks are a fearful sort of being. I don't want to invoke his wrath at being quoted out of context so I'm going to make sure he has his final say:
I think I have explained enough about the blacks, that you can appreciate the stories and eccentricities I shall introduce; and I wish it to be distinctly understood, that, in all things I may bring forward, no offence is meant towards those who may happen to be of a different colour to myself; as I have travelled in many parts of the globe, I beg most respectfully to state, that I never look upon a man from what place he comes from, but from the place he is worthy of, believing He who made the white, also made the black, and that they will stand the same chance as myself in the world to come; therefore, all that I introduce will be for your amusement, and trust the same will meet with your approbation.
Social Media 1800s Style
I have been using the theater a visual example but minstrel performances were not restricted to just indoors. They certainly would have been included in advertising, medicine shows, traveling independent performers, bars and other public performance spaces.
Sheet music would have been the mp3 player of the day. To be historically accurate there were some black folks selling songs and jokes on the down low to white performers. There were some who snuck on the stage violating state law against blacks and white mixing.
Minstrel shows were entertainment productions with a long lasting cultural impact. The stereotypes, ignorance and prejudice transferred from theater, film, radio, television and current new media.
Next up: My Understanding 21st Century Political Minstrel Videos
American Minstrel Show Collection with brief history of structure of minstrel shows by Princeton University Library Rare and Special Collections Department.
For those of you that are inclined to munch as you read literary works there is a Poetry and Cookies reading at the Altadena Senior Center on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 2pm in the afternoon.
Alene Terzian is the Altadena Poet Laureate so that will be good for a poem or two. The usual suspects will be slinging along word for word and hopefully new folks too.
The event is free but bring cash money for the purchase of chapbooks, particularly the 2011 edition of Poetry and Cookies, and other assorted goodies.
The festivities take place at the Altadena Senior Center: 560 East Mariposa Street in Altadena, CA. It is National Poetry Month so if you can't make this event there are a bunch more in the pipeline.
Michael Jeter was an extraordinary talent. He could do comedy, dance, theater anything the part called for so long as they called him.
Jeter should be remembered for what he did on stage and screen but more than that he was the kind of performer that when you saw him you knew he was going to treat you to an experience.
This is a scene from the Broadway play Grand Hotel. For you newbies, Mr. Jeter is the thin balding gentleman. Every once in a while keep an eye on his dancing feet. The man gave 100% and then some.
Most of all he helps me to take a moment to smile and to remember there are good things worth holding on as we seek better days to come.
Sister Aretha Franklin is in many of our hearts and prayers this day and in the days to come. I'm not ready to let her go just yet but God knows it is not in my hands.
It is harder to think of a family that hasn't been touched by cancer. You'd wish it be more selective and take out the crumb bums type of folks that need to leave the planet quick, fast and in a hurry.
That is me being spiteful. I meant it but it isn't a nice thing to say or think.
So let me try again.
I remember being a kid and walking around the neighborhood. Folks had either table radios or transistor 9 volt radios. I could walk around the block to the corner store and hear her music.
I don't mean to diminish the other singers of the time. Aretha made you pay attention. I wanted to sing like that woman. I still do. I can't carry a tune in a bucket but I try.
She makes you want to try.
So I'm a little fretful that the shadow of the Hard C is stoking up to take another passenger. I'm trying to brace up but I hope it is a very long time before I have to bust out the tears.
A few months back I wrote a post for BlogHer about the theater. This is a version of that post but I thought it would be timely to look again. The movie For Colored Girls opened this week. My heart isn't into rushing to the movie.
There has been a lot of discussions about the movie, the play, re-interpretation and so forth. My BlogHer colleague Nordette Adams wrote an excellent perspective from various stake holders.
Here is my two cents.
I attended a performance of For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf play many years ago. It was the must see play and folks packed the theater. It was the first time that I witness black women performing, poetry as stage craft and words as power.
I had the stage album and the book. So yes, I was a fan.
The movie is something else. It is another persons creation. Tyler Perry has put his imprint on certain sections of the text, removed others and placed it in a cinematic context.
I can't judge it based on my memories of 30 years ago. It has to stand as its own work. When I am ready I may or may not view the movie. A new generation of young women will find what is valuable and what is not.
But is is not Shange's play. And the play is the thing. Speaking of which good theater is like heartbreak. There is a space missing that needs to be healed. The sad thing is that I have learned to live without live theater. I have been away from it for too long.
Part of the problem is the financial accessibility of buying a ticket. No one really wants to pay money to see a stinker of a play. Not at $80 to $150 or more a seat.
Broadway made a $1 billion in gross sales for the 2009-2010 season. They don’t need me to tell them what draws the crowd.
Producers and audiences have made decisions on the kind of theater that will be supported. A visit to The Broadway Musical blog confirmed my suspicions. Many of the plays are revivals or converted movies and television shows.
I do like entertaining plays or musicals. There are times when you need to get away and just step into an experience that isn’t going to do anything to you but give you pleasure.
I know there is a place for Technicolor dazzlers like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
It looks like a great production. However, I won’t be seeing it when it comes to town. You see, I’ve already seen the movie. When the original movie came out I took a chance and bought a ticket. I was rewarded by stepped into a different world. I want that same element of risk in a theater production.
The Importance of Revivals
You can get that kind of experience if you’ve never seen the play or the source material before.
Revivals of classic theater plays are necessary. Unless the play has been recorded you can’t really pass along what made the play special. Even when you do record a theatrical performance an element gets lost – the actual connection between the play and the audience.
Yvonne Korshak of Let’s Talk Off-Broadway wants you to know that there is a theater world beyond Broadway that are producing classics, revivals and contemporary plays in search of an audience.
For those plays that I haven’t seen or experienced in another form this could by a path of exploration. Kat at Painted Air is excited about a possible Lily Allen project. For me, this would be a compromise but I don’t know about me and Bridget Jones.
Still, I need something more.
In Search Of – The Unknown
I’m willing to step beyond the sure thing. Theater is about engagement but it is also about risk and taking chances. It is watching an actor stepping out on stage and giving 100% and the audience either accepts it or rejects it.
What do you do when you like the theater but your needs are not mainstream? When in doubt, find a theater blogger.
The Metal Children won't leave you with easy answers about the power of art and the responsibility of the artist, but at least it raises the questions.
Silver Stars is a community-based, devised theatre piece by an Irish theatre company called Broken Talkers, who create work by mining people’s stories about their lives and knitting it into coherent evenings of theatre. The play, which I saw performed at the Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater on January 16, collects narratives from middle-aged Irish gay men who, because of homophobia in their native country, had to flea elsewhere to live honestly and comfortably.
Marisabidilla is a theater/culture blog from Marisa Skudlarek in San Francisco who enjoyed Giant Bones:
I know, there are a lot of plays about plays out there, and sometimes it can seem like an overdone topic. But not when it is really well done--written, staged and performed by people who truly do know and love the power of theater--the way that Giant Bones is.
Still On the Other Side of the Ticket Box
If theater means that hit movies and television shows are going to be converted to the stage then count me out. It would have to be an exceptional production to get me in the seat.
If theater means a range of plays and productions that cater to a variety of interest I could be tempted if I was properly wooed. I haven’t been lately. I will say that being able to sample a play via web video or audio podcasts would be a good way to start.
It might take those of us in new media to find ways to help communicate about theatrical productions of interest beyond the tried and true. One of the thing theater lovers could do is help out the unofficial Internet Theater Database with contributions and citations of plays seen and experienced.
Portions of this post were originally published at BlogHer where I am a Contributing Editor.
I'm going to be honest. I don't know who Eric Dolphy is or why he is important to jazz. I'll tell you how I found him. I was looking at a advertisement for the Pasadena Jazz Festival.
I don't know most of the people on the ad. This is more my shame than the performers. I wasn't brought up in the jazz tradition. Jazz was separate from Funk.
I was raised a Funkateer. I will never turn my back on Funk. That doesn't mean I close my ears to other forms of music. I have an album around here with Chick Corea playing classical music. I knew that he was primarily a jazz performer but he was stepping out. I like classical so I took a chance.
I'm getting to the point, honest. Ok, so I watched some of Chick's work but in the sidebar are Eric Dolphy videos. I click on a video that lead to another that lead to this video from Germany.
I don't know the name of the tune.
Hollywood film, video and music makers are petitioning any one that will listen (FCC and Congress) to keep people from uploading copyrighted content. I am not for stealing other people's works. Really, I'm not.
The industry and the unions want more fines, imprisonment, non-net neutrality and anything that will keep people from uploading their content. I'm not saying they don't have rights. The way they are going about it is often wrong and ultimately will drive people away from what they claim to cherish. Money.
Yes, there are industrial bootleggers and pirates. Go after them.
Music content is a part of my cultural heritage. I want to know what I have missed.
Fans of performers want other people to discover their favorite artists. Other people do not want the art form known as Jazz to die a ignored death.
Even if I knew what to ask for I can't beg any of my local radio stations to play jazz artists that are not under the "Smooth Jazz" formula. No disrespect intended.
The programed play list is all knowing, all limited. All locked into the major recording labels so that independents don't have a chance of being seen or heard.
What if you want something different and don't know what it is until you hear or see it?
That is what happened this evening. I found something different and I liked it.
The beat goes on, this time is Raindog, who on first glance, I know we are two different people living on this planet. He has experienced stuff I'm not going to understand. It is a masculine, hard knock focus of living. It is an appreciation that we come from different spaces.
This is a recording of one of his poems that he read at the Saturday Afternoon Poetry reading at the library. Raindog is a poet and publisher; his publishing company is called Lummox Press. I bought two of his books and there is good stuff twixt the covers.
The poems and stories are full tilt living until the brick wall causes you to stop and ponder the wisdom of your actions. Reading poems from a very strong masculine voice has provoked questions.
There is a poem of Raindog's that ticked me off. It might explain why I'm not going to be dating much in my future. It is the one on page 139 of FIRE and RAIN Vol. 1 where he is talking about reaching the age when the older women he use to seek out now remind him of his mother.
This is the first stanza:
I have reached that age where the older women whose company I once sought (because it made me feel more mature) now all remind me of my mother and the desire to go to bed in the grave each night put me off so badly that I can't stand the sight of them the next morning.
Other Women FIRE and Rain RD Armstrong Selected Poems 1993-2007 Vol. 1 page 139
It starts out like you want to slap him upside the head. As you keep reading the rest of the poem in the book you find out that time and space have done it for him.
It is a good poem but the sucker does generate questions in me. If men my own age look at me and see their moms and I look at them and see them for who they are in the here and now then I can see why there is an uptick of Rocky Road ice creme and beer on Saturday nights.
I'm a Cherry Vanilla person with leanings to Vanilla Fudge Swirl but I have taken the pledge not to indulge for a bit. I have brick walls of my own that I'm trying not to slam into.
I am not long and lean like Sade. I have come to accept it most days. I was supposed to be at least 5'9. I'm not. I come from average sized people.
When I was a teen being tall was like a passport to being cool. I was a nerd so I needed something. I thought height would help me transcend my nerdom. No, it was foretold that I was destined to be a nerd.
Extra inches would not have made me less of one. But I could dream.
Looking at Sade I still feel I was robbed. Cuz we don't visualize short women singing down into the city and everybody chilling out.
Now truth be told, I can do a lot of things that tall people cannot. I got that short grizzly determination that cannot be obtained by being born to be lanky. Sade is born to be who she is and she is dang good at it. Her voice puts folks in relaxation mode.
I celebrate her greatness and how she isn't in the headlines doing or saying embarrassing stuff. Really, she needs to give celebrity lessons on how to behave yourself in public.
Me, it is a day to day job just being me. Except for the days when I get pissed at being me because somehow I wasn't enough. Then I remember, I am supposed to be here looking this way.
I am comfy and cushy and, in certain countries, I am a sex symbol. I am all of this plus a nerd. Who could ask for anything more?
So here I am. Finding my way again. Come the end of the day I will remember to Cherish the Day and catch up with my Sade CD.
I have a special love of busting out of office L7 videos. This is one of them that is a keeper long after the event. This weekend you could attend a Hollywood Fringe event.
After this weekend, hit up on this video to remind you to get out more.
This is a day of recognition and sorrow of the passing of two great performers. Dr. Albertina Walker and Mr. Solomon Burke have made their transition to the upper room.
Albertina Walker is one of the great ladies of traditional African American gospel music. A body could not move through a Sunday morning without hearing a recording from Dr. Walker or one of the many choirs she created or was associated with.
For those that don't know, just because the song seems to end does not necessarily mean that the song has ended. This is the music equivalent of stoking the furnace.
Four minutes and thirty seconds isn't always enough time to invoke the spirit. You might need a little longer to not only go up but to remember to come back down.
Solomon Burke made his transition on route to a performance in Solomon Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for a sold out show with Dutch band, De Dijk.
This is his recording with the Blind Boys of Alabama with a ripping version of None Us Are Free
Mr. Burke recorded gospel, secular and country music. Think of him as a musician's performer. Those that knew about the depth of his talents were respectful and did not nor would not try to lump him as a one or two hit wonder. There is a strong body of work and good music that never got proper promotion or U.S. air play.
Europe and Asia had more sense than we did.
Mr. Burke, in addition to his musical legacy has a loving family of 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
I will admit that I do pay attention to bald headed men. Can't help it. Think of it as my Picard veteran preference in action. Anyway, this caught my attention. Who is this guy?
It is an intriguing concept - a philosopher with a sense of humor or at least a present that doesn't act like a narcotic. Yo, Nietzsche, I'm talking to you!
Sorry, flashback. There are other videos but let's see if this guy has got staying power.
Keely Smith? I had never heard of the woman until I stumbled into a video. Keely was performing during the transition time between the poodle skirt and the mini skirt. Think of the Mad Man years. In between was Keely.
For a time she hung out with a cat named Louis Prima who was a force a nature by himself. This was classic fire and ice and sometimes you had to work out which was which. Usually Keely was the ice as Louis was burning up the joint.
This is their rendition of Don't Worry About Me. Mr. Prima passed away in the 1970s. Keely Smith is still performing. For more info on her check out her Wikipedia page.
It is a new year and a new decade. I think. Zero to nine but there is no year zero and yet we place a zero at the end to show the beginning of future time.
Then a bunch of people will argue about the start of the decade for three years. Well, it is a non-toxic thing to blovate about. I've seen comments threads hi-jacked with people on both sides trying to prove that they are right.
Some people will attempt to validate their intellectual self-worth by explaining how this decade thing works and expect the other person to believe it. Others will take pride in showing just how ignorant they are and will fight to the bone to prove it.
Mud will be flung but not around here.
Anyway, I wanted to find not just old classics but new to me artists as well. If it has a good beat or story that is pretty much all I need. This is a performer named Damien Jurado. He has story songs and can sing with his pants up. That goes a long way with me.
Damien has a MySpace page and you can check out stuff there as well.
You should know I'm going to diving into Daytrotter and similar sites to find more musicians I don't know about. That is a might interesting neck of the woods. Daytrotter finds artists and invite them to record in a studio. You can download the music free and get exposed to music the radio stations are willfully ignoring for syntho-spuds.
Now be kind. I did say that some of the folks I'll find are new to me but you might have know about them for eight years.
What can I tell you? I've been busy. There was a time I knew what was happening in contemporary music. Not my fault radio tried and succeeded to kill off innovation. Radio drove me away because I aged out of the demographic pool.
I've been a podcast girl for a long time now. Will continue to be one but I need to mix more music along with the words. Time to try new again. Find musical kin folks. Allow more than I know in the door.
Well, it is another day in the life. Breath deep and step forward.
One more week and time slips into a new decade. Well, yes. I suppose so. I was burnt out on the whole holiday thing three weeks ago. It was like I was forced into acceptance when I only wanted to be a by-stander.
It was like being made to go to a party and I just was not in the mood. The party came to me anyway. I couldn't sneak out the door. It wasn't as bad as I'm making it out to be. Some people had it rough road this year. This wasn't that kind of time for me and I am grateful.
It is a good day when you can spend part of it watching episodes of Red Dwarf I never got to see.
So, to close it the day here is a little bit of Maze and Frankie Beverly. I just wanted peace in all it manifestations. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.
I gotta remember to buy a CD or something. I had a cassette but I played it so much I shredded the thing. Miss them much.
Yes a shout out to all the fakes, distorters and opportunists everywhere. It has been a while but rattling on the edge of musical memory is Alexander O'Neal.
He wasn't a pretty boy singer, no this was a manly man on the mike. Alexander O'Neal's music videos came across as man power in a suit. O'Neal is still performing and has a web site up to support his latest album.
This is just a gentle reminder about being careful with the stories that you tell yourself. There are repercussions and possible concussions if you confuse yourself with the wrong truth to the right person.
