R.I.P. to a New Orleans Legend

"March 8 to 5...aw ya damn bastards" - Edwin H. Hampton

Today is a sad day in the city of New Orleans, one of its greatest Mardi Gras legends is no more... Edwin H. Hampton, founder of the St. Aug Marching 100 has passed away at the age of 81 after a lengthy illness. He has been the band director at St Aug since 1952 the year after the school opened.

I personally didnt go to the Aug (even though I always get associated with them), but my younger brother did and played in the band, So in an indirect way I had some interaction with him. "Hamp" as he was affectionately known has lead the band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York, the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. The band played at Pope John Paul's visit to New Orleans in 1987, at least 8 US Presidents and numerous Super Bowl appearences. But most importantly (to New Orleanians) the big boy Mardi Gras parades...Endymion, Bacchus, and Rex...

My fondest memories of Hamp were definitely the Good Friday fish fry at the school. It was always crowded and he always took the time out to speak to everyone there, even if you had a mouth full of food (or vice versa). He will definetly be missed by the Saint Augustine High School family, alumni, his beloved band members, and the 7th ward. He will miss all of them too. Its gonna be kinda strange goin to the Aug / 35 football game in a couple of weeks and not see him with that scowl on his face, but the legacy of Hamp will live on... This second line may be bigger than the one for Michael Jackson...LOL. I gotta be there for that one, and I dont even much like second lines like all that.

Posted by the Insomniaq..i might have to pick up my horn to see if I still got it

Folks and their conspiracy theories...

What I want to understand is how folks cant let people rest in peace...aiight not all people but black people in particular...

I just had a conversation with 3 dudes and they were talkin about Michael Jackson. One of em was like, "did yall see the ghost on Larry King?" At first I thought to myself, "This dude watches Larry King?" He instructed me to pull up www.datpiff.com, (I shoulda known then it was some nonsense) and type in ghost of Michael Jackson in the search box. So I appease the cat, like I said knowing it was some nonsense, and sure enough there was a clip (it looked doctored and I didnt see it on CNN's site). It "appeared" to be a moonwalkin image, but whatever. This sparked conversation about whether or not Michael was dead or not. Did he fake his death to get away from God knows what. Being tthe only rational one in the cypher, I started to fall back and, let the foolishness fly. There was all kinds of notions goin back and forth...He was runnin from his debt, and the other homie said, "He owned the Beatle's catalouge", I returned with "He's got a point." The youngest homie was like, "The Beatle's?" He got one of those "Do The Right Thing OH HELL NAW's". This went around for a few minutes and someone, I dont remember who said something about Tupac was still alive... I was speechless.

So we went to YouTube, and found a bunch of clips that claimed Tupac was alive. One went as far as saying Pac was recording a song, dissing Eminem (for that last album he dropped), Jermaine Dupri (for "fuckin with Janet Jackson" and some other inaudible things. The camera man peered around the corner and tight zoomed on a group of cats, in the parking lot...The dude that was talkin this up said that Pac was the cat with the cigareete and the Coke in his hands. My homie who to me seemed to be the most grounded of all was screamin at the top of his lungs..."THAT'S PAC....THAT'S HIM!" I quickly gave him the side eye like you cant be serious...they wanted to rewind the clip to see what kind of cars were in the parking lot and then started tryin to figure out the year those cars came out and doin "Pac died" calculations. It was actually funny. Then it was check out this clip and lets look at that clip, to which each had more and more speculation and theories that Tupac was alive and kickin it. Alive and kickin it in Cuba, Australia, and the hotbed of the witness protection program....you ready....Jackson Mississippi. Now the words that came out of my mouth are, "Are you damn serious?", to which someone said "Look there is a picture of him and Lil' Wayne...thats gotta be new!" At that point I wanted to roll around laughin on the floor like the Yahoo IM smiley, this dude is trippin. Then they started talkin about some of the things in the clips, like the false autopsy reports and whether or not Quincy Jones' daughter was in the car with them or not. Cats were talkin about Diddy had something to do with it, and Suge had something to do with Biggie's death in retaliation and all that other stuff...Simply incredible. They might as well have been playing Clue.

Now as much as I believe that once someone is pronounced dead thats a wrap as far as Im concerned. Im not about to sit there and formulate "left field" theories, especially about Tupac, Biggie, or Michael Jackson. If Ima do that kinda stuff, it'll be about JFK, Jr , the moon landing or something somewhat relevant like what part of the chicken does a McNugget come from...but thats just me.

yeah, right

Posted from the Conservatory, with Col. Mustard with the candlestick, by the Insomniaq

When will it all end?

"Leave me alone - (Stop it!) / Just stop doggin' me around" - Michael Jackson

Alright fam, its been a couple of weeks since the passing / memorial for the King of Pop, and ever since the first report it has been a media circus. There is so much speculation about the cause of death, his kids, his estate, and anything that is Jacko related and personally its gettin on my last nerve. The man has passed away and there is nothin that all this extra curricular jaw jackin can do about it. It'll be a matter of time before there are Michael sightings, just like with Elvis and Tupac. Will y'all just let the man rest in peace?

The BS that comes along with more than likely the biggest news story of the year, is really unneccesary. TMZ, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, and the other show business magazines and mainstream media are really turning this whole thing into a damn drama. There was a video of Jackson during the making of the infamous Pepsi commercial where he was burned by misfiring pyrotechniques. It played over and over and over in the 3 minute segment. Then pictures of Paris goin to the Jehovah Witness temple with her prayer book. LaToya and Joe insisting that Michael was murdered. Debbie Rowe and her reported (and then refuted) $4 million dollar claim to waive her parental rights to Prince Michael and Paris. The plastic surgeon who said that Mike wasnt the daddy, but he "may" be... Damn make it all stop.

Is anyone really concerned with the privacy of the Jackson family in their time of mourning? Not even Joe (would you expect anything less of him though). He says that Paris has some talent and wants to put the two older children in the studio and to work, (my money is still on Blanket though, make my words). Actually I think this is the most insane idea / comment that I have heard yet. After ruining the childhood of his children, now Joseph wants to ruin his grandchildren's. If Katherine doesnt step up and slap the shit outta Joe and make him leave them children alone. Its bad enough they are Witnesses so they wont celebrate birthdays or holidays, so let em play with other kids and grow up like normal kids. I really hope the best for these children.

The murder claims seem totally ridiculous as well. For years Jackson had amitted to being in pain and to taking pain relievers. Im not a doctor, even though I play one on TV, but if there was this "cocktail" of pain relievers and the added presence of MORPHINE, I'm pretty sure that some of those dont mix and could have caused a cardiac attack. Don't you people listen to all these commercials for these different drugs and their side effects. I know I do, and some of them include DEATH. I'd rather have the illness instead of the side effects ANYDAY...

What else do I find ridiculous is the comparisons that people make between Michael and other entertainers... Who was the better dancer? Mike or Hammer? Who was the better singer Mike or Prince? Who was the better all around entertainer? Mike or James Brown or Sammy Davis Jr. Well damn, Ima just say this and Ima end mine... Michael Jackson is /was / will always be the Greatest Entertainer of All Time not just the 4 decades in which he had the world in the palm of his hands... Just leave him alone, let him rest in peace, and stop with all the foolishness

Posted by the Insomniaq...tryin to get my moonwalk on...HEE HEE!!!!

The fight game's lost...

10 bell salute to 2 boxing legends...Alexis Arguello and Arturo "Thunder" Gatti.

Alexis Arguello (April 19, 1952 - July 1, 2009) known in the fight world as El Flaco Explosivo - "The Explosive Thin Man", was a native of the Central American country of Nicaragua where in 2008 he was elected mayor of the capital city, Managua. He was a 3 times world champion and his fights with Aaron Pryor.

With a professional records of 82-8-0 with 65 Ko's, Arguello was a warrior in and out of the ring. Made his professional debut with a loss, (a first round TKO) and went on to win 36 of the next 38 fights, leading to his first title shot in the Featherweight division. (He lost to Marcel who later retired) He would later win the championship with a knockout of Ruben Olivares. He transitioned to the Super Featherweight and later to the Lightweight divisions, winning titles in both. His most memorable fights were with Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and future boxing Hall of Famer Aaron Pryor. In the first fight with Pryor he was stopped in the 14th round, there was a contraversy surrounding a water bottle used by Pryor's corner and due to the carelessness of the Miami Boxing Commission, who didnt perform a post fight urinalysis, a rematch was ordered. This fight took place in Las Vegas and Arguello was KO'd in the tenth. He retired, but you know boxers, they always come back and he did...He needed the money. He and Pryor would remain friends and see each other several times a year until this month when he (Arguello) died.

He became active in politics when he returned to his native Nicaragua and was elected Mayor in 2007. He passed away on July 1, 2009 from an apparent suicide, but the authorities are suspicious, and investigating foul play...

Arturo "Thunder" Gatti also known as the "Ultimate Blood and Guts Warrior" and the "Human Highlight Film" was born April 15, 1972 in Italy, his family moved to Montral, Canada and he lived there until he turned pro in 1991, then moved to New Jersey. Thunder was in Ring Magazine's "Fight of the Year" 4 times, (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003), but was best known for his epic battles with nemesis Micky Ward. Trust me these two cats refused to lose and fought like their momma's said "Don't come back in the house unless you win". Gatti was a member of the Canadian National Boxing team and was scheduled to participate in the 1992 Olympics, but turned pro instead. He has had fights that were called no less than "Legendary". The list is a mile long...Tracy Harris Patterson where he won the IBF Super Featherweight belt and scored a sweet deal with HBO Boxing (where most of his fights were televised). Wilson Rodriguez, 2 fights with Ivan Robinson, Reyes Munoz and Joey Gamache (who Arturo knocked out and was in a coma for a day), Oscar de la Hoya, Jesse James Leija, Floyd "Money" Mayweather, and Micky Ward.

The fights with Ward were so good, I want them to be released in a special dvd set, now that he has died maybe HBO will do that. They split the first two fights, Ward winning the first and Gatti winning the second. The third fight which was undoubtedly the best of the three. Gatti broke his hand (AGAIN) in the 4th round throwing an upper cut that landed on Ward's hip. He pretty much fought one handed the rest of the fight. Took an overhead right to the the head and was down with a second left in the round. He got up and continued the fight, and won by unanimous decision 96-93, 96-93 and 97-92 on the judge's scorecards. This was Ring Magazine's Fight of the Year.

After Ward he beat Leija, got demolished by Mayweather, knocked out by Carlos Baldomir, and his last fight was against Alfonso Gomez (which he lost). In the dressing room after the fight, Gatti announced his retirement saying that he was coming back, just to watch. Gatti was found dead today in a rented house in Brazil, by his wife. He, his wife, and child were in Brazil on their honeymoon. Authorities said that he was victim of a head injury and are investigating now.


Arguello and Gatti are both boxing legends and will truly be missed...The fight game was revolutionized by them and their careers are gonna be immortalized.
Posted from a neutral corner by the Insomniaq...8,9,10 and I'm OWT