I had all the best intentions of waking up at 9am today to fix myself breakfast, & prepare for my 1pm photo shoot with Detroit rock group Fluxphonic.

In my head the plan was solid! Well, it all went to hell when I woke up at 11am.

I jumped out of bed, rushed to get dressed, packed my camera bag, gathered light equipment & loaded the car. Before you know it was 1150, everything was in the car & I was on my way to the set with a very empty belly.

I totally had no time to stop for a quick bite. Oh my!

I HATE working while hungry!

Well, none of that mattered because I had to make it happen.

Then… I get to the set & realize that I left a vital lighting accessory at home. Bummer! So I improvised like one should.

The clock tics & tocs & the shoot is going great; before you now it, we wrapped about 4:15.

Before heading home, I stopped at Popeye’s for a quick meal, which I later suffered from. BIG TIME!

Lessoned learned from today:

- Set 2 alarms, maybe 3
- Triple check the equipment checklist
- Pack snacks no matter what
- Never eat a Popeye’s spicy 3 piece on a totally empty stomach

With all this said, my clients never saw me sweat or heard my belly growl (I think).

Pictured above: Fluxphonic (Steffanie Chris’tian (Left to Right) Kris Wilson, Danny Lecours, Russ Dobson)

If you’re in the Detroit area Saturday March 27, you can see Fluxphonic at the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History “Black Women Rock! A Tribute to Betty Davis”

Side Note: Who is Betty Davis?

A wildly flamboyant funk diva with few equals even three decades after her debut, Betty Davis combined the gritty emotional realism of Tina Turner, the futurist fashion sense of David Bowie, and the trendsetting flair of Miles Davis, her husband for a year.

It’s easy to imagine the snickers when a 23-year-old model married a famous musician twice her age, but Davis was no gold digger; she turned Miles onto Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, providing the spark that led to Miles’ musical reinvention on In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, then proved her own talents with a trio of sizzling mid-’70s solo LPs.

See a few more out takes from my shoot with Fluxphonic here.

This summer my blog will be 5 years old! Wow!!!

Since I started blogging, I have gone through several blog content metamorphoses.

I started off talking about nothing in particular, then started talking about pop culture (mostly movies, weird news stories & music), then I started blogging about race, which is where I think I peaked in terms of reader interest.

When I blogged about race & inequality I started off with good intentions, but that soon grew into me blogging as an angry Black man.

During my blogging as an angry Black man period, I was getting 10k hits a month and this attracted all kinds of comments & interactions. Funny thing is, I didn’t realize that I was an angry Black man until mid 2009. This is about 2 years after I entered the angry zone.

I mentioned my reader drop off on Twitter earlier today & this is what some of my contacts there had to say:

“Anger sells, like sex. Maybe u shoud write abt sex?”

“ppl like fuckery”

“we went through the same thing…people like anger & controvesy more than pleasant isht for some reason. Look at reality TV”

Interesting… True???

Now I wonder if I was really writing for myself or for an audience. This brings to mind a quote by writer Cyril Connolly (thx Jovan)

“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”

Did I lose myself? I don’t think so but at this point, I guess it doesn’t matter.

After I got my mind right & calmed down is when I decided to change the tone & scope of my blog. Since that point, my traffic is looking more like 3k hits per month.

I’m OK with whatever traffic I get here on my blog/journal & I’m happy that I’m writing for myself.

Dear Blogger, it was great while it lasted. OK. Thanks. Bye!

Yesterday when I got the notice from Blogger letting me know that they were ending their FTP service, I went into a tech-boy downward spiral. Today I’m out of my funky mood, another unwanted surprise project is now done & I am officially a Wordpress blogger.

Thankfully, I found this great tutorial that walked me through the process, which took all of 8 minutes. I so love Googling any & everything because there’s always an answer! Google is life’s best friend!!!

After all of my posts & comments were imported to this new space, all had to do was dress things up bit to reflect my style & the rest is history.

I have to say that I am very impressed with the power of the Wordpress platform. I will experimenting with some of the new options that I have now over the next few days.

I’m not going to say that I should have done this ages ago but I was really sleeping at the wheel…

So anyway, I hope you dig my new crib!

BTW, if you are on Blogger & host your own blog via FTP, be sure to read this so that you are not left in the dark.

I’ve been using Blogger.com’s FTP service to update my blog for the past 5 years & it’s been great. The upside to using the FTP service is that the blog & files are all hosted on my server giving me additional administrative controls that I would not ordinarily have. The down side is that I am not able to use all of the nifty new little features that Blogger hosted sites have such as widgets.

Well, my happy little blogging world came crashing down like a ton of brinks yesterday when Blogger announced that they will no longer support their FTP service, which is used by .5% of their active users.

After digesting the news, I felt a little down. This has been my online home for 5 years & I know have to make a change. Change is good more often than not, but this is one change that I’m not ready for.

On a positive note, Blogger is offering migration assistance to those of us in the .%5 boat & I’m sure many will go along with it but I have decided to move on.

So sometime before March 26, 2010 Tafari’s Mind Spill will have a new look as I move to the Word Press platform. Stay tuned & lets all hope that this is smooth…

After reading Senator Harry Reid’s [“unintentional“] racist comment, I went into blank stare mode, then snapped out & went straight into no that mutha fucka didn’t mode. In case you’ve been under a rock, this fool said privately that he believed Barack Obama was well suited to a presidential run because he is a “light-skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

First, of all, it’s clear that there is a fear/dislike of the dark skinned Black. Reid’s statement & many echoed around news outlets, blogs etc have led me to believe that all of these incidences of unintentional racism go to the core of beliefs held by many white Americans.

I don’t know how many times today I’ve heard that Barack Obama would have not been our president had he been darker. Sounds like some Willie Lynch shit to me. Is a light Negro less dangerous & friendlier than a dark Negro?

Truth be told, if our ancestors were not raped and… No, I won’t go there, that’s another blog post.

Second, what the fuck is a “Negro dialect?” I’ve been searching for that meaning all weekend! And how does Reid know who has the ability to turn said dialect on & off? Is the ability to turn it on & off based on skin complexion?

Dictionary.com defines dialect as – a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.

Black Americans, just like any other group on this country are now homogeneous. And the last time I polled, my Negro friends, 94.254% of them sounded like my white friends. I’m just saying.

So now people, mainly republicans are calling on Reid to step down. I’m actually torn on this; not sure if he straight up needs to go or if he needs a verbal bitch slap from the top down; starting with the Black Messiah (Barack Obama) himself. Well, I guess that verbal bitch slap from the Black Messiah won’t be coming. He just feels that Reid used “inartful language.”

Lastly, I have an issue with the Congressional Black Caucus unequivocally backing Reid. Where’s the out rage in our “Black” leaders on Capital Hill?

Now: Do I dare broach the subject of a white man claiming that he’s blacker than a Black man? A nasty looking white man, who’s a disgrace to the state of IL, politics in general & possibly his race thinks that he’s blacker than a Black men; the man running this fucking nation? I think not!

Obama may be a lot of things, but one thing is, he is undeniably is the quintessential Black man in every fashion.

This fool Rod Blababitch Blagojevich said to Esquire magazine:

“I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little Laundromat in a black community not far from where he lived. I saw it all growing up.”

Since when does shining shoes give a white man a ghetto pass? Shit, I play golf but that doesn’t make me white, or wanted on the golf course. Actually, I don’t play golf; I just want to make a point.

Honestly, I can’t even be mad at Blagojevich for his dumb ass comment. It’s clear that he’s struggling to remain relevant & in the news. What better way to attempt that by saying something so over the top. Creating this controversy gave this fool another three minutes on his fading fifteen minutes of fame. I guess his upcoming appearance on “Celebrity Apprentice” wasn’t enough.

I’ll tell you; today, I suffered the biggest racial tension headache that I’ve experienced since Don Dumb Imus said with pride; “Them some nappy headed hoes.”

Today I heard from a client who saw an image of her on a MSN website advertising single ladies “in your area.”

She sent me a screen shot of the page & I totally flipped out! She signed a model release for me so that I could submit it to Getty images Flickr Collection a few months ago but it had not sold. So knowing that it hadn’t sold, I KNEW it was being used without my authorization. With that in mind, I went storming around the internet for answers.

I left messages on the MSN support site, left a message, started a discussion thread with Bing via FB, & later posted something to the Flickr Getty Images contributor forum.

As you can imagine, I was quite upset. Like really upset.

To my relief, by the end of the day, I was contacted by the Bing Facebook team, letting me know that they were investigating the situation on my behalf. About an hour after that, I received a call from one of Microsoft’s managing photo editors who explained that the image in question was indeed used lawfully & that it was recently purchased from Getty Images via the Flickr Collection.

“Hi Tafari

I’m a Managing Photo Editor at Microsoft and your mail and link to: http://www.twitpic.com/vls82 was forwarded to me.. This is an image we acquired from Getty (see the info below with your credit) and is in the cue for payment. We take licensing very seriously and go to great lengths to make certain our images are licensed correctly…”

Funny thing is, somewhere along the way & during my hastiness, I forgot that the image was indeed available via Getty.

Had I paid better attention, I would have contacted Getty images & let them do the investigating for me. Sigh! These days, one can never be careful with protecting your creative properties

So since all of the drama was laid to reset, I made amends with Microsoft for my hasty reaction. With quick reactions, a couple of tweets, a FB post & no research, all kinds of hell can break loose.

Oh, by the way, my client thought that this was comical & right now, she single & still very much sexy.

See my original image here.

Yesterday, I was in the locker room at the gym washing my hands before I headed to work out when I said hello to another member. He responded back by with, “hello, how are you?” I was like fine.

He then asked me if I was ready for Christmas. I told him that I wasn’t because I don’t celebrate Christmas.

He then looked at me all confused & was like really? I was like really!

He then asked me is I was a Muslim. I said no. Then he asked me if I was Jewish. I told him no.

Before he could ask me anymore personal questions, I simply stated that I was holiday celebration hating Atheist.

As you can imagine there was a long uncomfortable silence as I walked away. Before I left the locker room, he said, I hope that your soul finds salvation.

So WTF, I’m not at the gym to be preached at; I’m there to lose this rotund belly & man titties.

I judge no one for their beliefs or lack there of, so I expect the same in return.

Updated 7/6/2009 – Well this image has been up for a week & yet, Ive posted no story. Well thats because I was thinking long & hard trying to figure out how I could spin a positive story & I’ve been able to come up with nothing.

Truth be told, no one that I know who attended the Chicago or Detroit Rock The Bells Festival had much positive to say. I talked to one of my peeps in Chicago who was working on writing an open letter to the Detroit Rock The Bells Festival organizers & she wanted my POV from a media aspect. This is what I sent her:

“From a media perspective, I have very little to offer on the Rock The Bells Detroit in terms of concert content. As a photographer & blogger covering the music, sharing my experience is going to be difficult because when you’re shooting, you cannot focus on anything other than getting the shot.

With that said; 1st off, I was able to photograph through the first 3 songs of each performance, which is pretty standard. However, after those first 3 songs I was escorted out of the venue with several other photographers. The only way we could go back in was if we were to put our gear in out cars between acts. This would have been a complete hassle a) because of the distance b) breaking down gear & having to put it back together is time consuming etc.

So basically, my whole purpose for going & driving 95 miles each way mostly a waste. I got great photos but could not report on any music.

Then there was the fact that Bustah Rhymes canceled his performance. This was a huge let down! The acts got shuffled around & I missed two performances because of BRs cancellation & subsequently tweaked artist line-up.

Annnnnd then, there was the fact that I was not able to photograph any of Damian Marley’s performance because he came on after Nas’ 3rd song. The media contact at DTE Music Center was not movable or willing to let any of us capture Damian, so I just left at this point disappointed & wondering if I should have bothered to even attend.”

So later on in the evening after I responded to my girl, I decided to contact my RTB media contact directly with a regurgitation of what was said earlier:

“Hi XXXX,

Thanks for setting me up with access to the Rock The Bells Festival in Detroit. I thought that I would share with you the fact that I had a awful experience covering the event as a photographer and blogger.

1) I was escorted totally out of the venue after each and every performance. I was only allowed back in if I put my gear in my vehicle, which was parked a considerable distance away making it virtually impossible.
a) The initial directions that I received did not indicate where to park or which entrance to access etc. This was a minor annoyance.

2) I was not able to observe any of the musical performances, as a result I’m lost as far as writing a story for my blog and readers. I felt that the overall point of my coverage was blown.

3) None of the photographers were able to photograph Damian Marley at all because he came out on the 4th song performed by Nas. Many of us considered Damian Marley a big draw and we were allowed no coverage as we were escorted out again.

I have to say that I was greatly disappointed as a new media member. I truly think that the process at the DTE Energy Music Center could have been handled much better…

Tafari”

Much to my surprise, I got an almost immediate response back. Which read:

“Tafari,

I am sorry to hear all this and that you had these issues and did not enjoy your experience at Rock the Bells. You were only confirmed for a photo pass as the amount of press tickets available to us was limited so we could not fulfill your full request. Photo passes only grant access in and out of the photo pits – without a ticket, you are not allowed to roam the grounds to observe the show. I’m sorry you were not aware of that prior to the day but tickets were available for the show.

In regards to shooting Damian Marley, we have already been informed of this issue, which was news to both us as well as his publicist. Standard photo rules for all artists is the first 3 songs. Damian and Nas, as we were all informed, were performing together with their new material so the fact they did not appear together until song 4 was shocking. We have since discussed this with both of their parties to make sure that issue does not happen again for the rest of the tour as you are correct in that these 2 together is very big draw for the tour…

Again, my apologies.

XXXX”

I really appreciated the response back & it looks like it all breaks down to communication, communication, communication, & more communication. Too bad I feel like I was on the losing end of the gap.

Even with the drama that I encountered, I’m sure as a fan in the crowd, I would have loved the festival because all of the performers gave tremendous energy & the crowd was mos def feeling every act.

So since I do not have a more positive & comprehensive story to offer, please enjoy the images that I captured, which tell a different story. A hip-hop story!

March of this year will mark 7 years since we got custody of my little sister Sade. I’m only recounting this because some shit just jumped off.

Two weeks ago, we got a letter in the mail from the IRS stating that we had to refund all tax credits we received related to Sade because we claimed her fraudulently.

The 1st thing we thought was oh hell no; no this bitch ain’t claim Sade on her taxes AGAIN. 

The she is her momma. The same momma that has made no attempt to call Sade in I think a little over 3 years.

So we (really meaning Suite Suzy) called the IRS to find out what we needed to do to resolve this. Basically we had to assemble a bunch of documents proving that we had custody of Sade in 2007, shit like notes from the school, custody paper work etc.

To get everything we needed, I had to pour through a bunch of old documents that I had buried in my trunk. This morning I found the custody paperwork & a whole bunch of correspondence from my lawyer at that time (Albert D. Lipscomb of Bessemer, AL, he was great!).

When I got home I decided to actually read some of the letters from my lawyer & other court documents. As I read the 7-8 year old documents, I started having flashbacks of drama that Suite Suzy & I went through as I was dealing with the custody issue & my father’s estate settlement simultaneously.

I read documents that detailed how Sade’s mother abandoned other children, the home study that was conducted on me & things from that backwards as social worker Christina Lawrence that I had to deal with in Alabama.

Once all of the letters were put back into their respective envelops, I let out a big sigh & was like damn, that was a very difficult period in my life. I know if it were not for Suite Suzy, I might not even be alive right now. Honestly speaking, I really have no memory of many things that occurred in that period of my life & have to depend on Suite Suzy for details.

I tell you, my fathers death really fucked my life up in so many ways, so many mutha fuckin’ ways. But that is the past & I, with the help of my boo, have made a delicious pitcher of lemonade with the bag of half rotten lemons that life gave me.

When Suite Suzy got home this evening, I shared my thoughts on the paperwork that I read & stated that life was rough then & she co-signed. She also told me that she just deleted a bunch of emails from back then of arguments that we had about this & that (I would love to give details but I cannot tell all my damn business + I don’t even remember half of it).

The funny thing about me having Sade is that a few months before my dad kicked the bucket, we were on the phone & he was drunk. During this conversation, he was like, if anything happens to me, I want you to take care of your sister. Talk about drunken premonitions.

Anyway, I’m happy that I have Sade in my life & documents are in the mail to the IRS. My dad’s baby momma will be fucked.

Lastly, it is so funny how Sade’s momma can surface when it is time to file taxes but when I was suing that bitch for child support she as nowhere to be found for 4 years. I don’t understand how people getaway with living under the radar like that.

This evening about 8pm, the doorbell rang & I opened the door to see a large group of trick-or-treaters.

As I opened the door, I asked what they wanted & they all yelled; TRICK-OR-TREAT!!!!!

When they quieted down, I yelled back TRICK BITCHES!!!! Then I gave them each a special apple.

As I passed the apples out to the shocked bastards on my porch, I heard a parent ask from the sidewalk, did he just say “trick bitches” as he started to walk toward my house.

Before you know it, he was on my porch getting the door slammed in his red face. He shouted into the door, “I got your trick, you bitch” & I yelled back “get the fuck off my porch” as cut off the porch light & laughed wickedly.

Suite Suzy looked at me & called me a sick mutha then she gave me a high five.

At 7:23pm, I woke up from a deep sleep at my desk.  It was all a damn dream.