Get Off Your Butt And Do Life

In the last couple of weeks I have been working with a professional AMA race team, "Ruess Racing". During the race at Fontana Speedway, now called "Auto Club Speedway", I was watching all of the teams working hard to get their bike and their racers ready to compete. Some were well know racers. Others were private operations on shoe string budgets. The later would be my team.

One of our racers, Terry Heard, barely qualified for both formula extreme and the 600 super sport races. The other racer, Jay Ruess, did not qualify at all. But, what was important was not the fact that one barely made it, and the other did not make it at all. What was important was much deeper than that.

The true joy and importance of the whole weekend was the fact that so many teams, factory or private, were living their dreams. These people were not the type of people that sat around waiting for dreams to come true. They were out there on that track making their dreams happen.

When Jay didn't qualify, I made sure that I gave him space to deal with the fact that he did not make it. But, when the time was right, I let him know that even though he did not win a race that day, he won in life that day. He went out and competed with the best in the AMA. He got on that track and did his best. He has done what road racing fans all over the world wish they could do. He went out on an AMA professional road course and did his thing. And all of this he did after being off of his bike for a year due to race related injury.

Terry Heard, Jays' team mate, blew his engine on the last lap of the 600 super sport race. But, that didn't stop him from taking his Kawasaki ZX10 out on the track where he had, I believe, the best start of his career, finishing 16th. Sure it was not first place. But with the budget that we work with, that's pretty damn good. He lived his dream and won the day in life.

These people, my team, often look to me for over all management of the team. I'm the keeper of good spirits. I'm the guy that tries to keep every one believing in themselves. I am the one that is not shame when it comes to begging and borrowing and snatching the media. But, what they don't know is they are inspiring me. They, through their hard work and drive, push me and drives me to be a dream accomplisher.

Our whole team, Dave, Oscar, Mike, Lisa, Danny are great people. They are a true team that uses all of their resources to come together and work very hard to reach their goals and dreams. It is this energy that I have become addicted to. The vibe of people that are living their dreams is something that should be injected into the souls of every human being on earth. If this were the case, we would all be happier on the planet.

So, what is important in life? The important thing to remember is not to just dream about what you want to do. Live your dreams. There are no excuses in life. You either do, or you don't do. That's it. I would rather you go out there and do what you dream. Live your passions. Fallow your dreams and accomplish each and every one of them. I believe in you. Now all you have to do is believe in yourself. Go out there and accomplish your dreams.



Peace to my people

I'm out


P.S. I would like to thank our "Ruess Racing" sponsors: http://www.spacovers.com/ , http://www.usababy.com/ Zorbas Burgers Riverside California, John Burr Cycles Fontana California , and all of our friends and family that support the team.
A special thanks goes to The AMA Stalker for all of her help with Photography.

Change Your Mind Change Your Life

How many times have you heard someone say, if I could go back in time I would be this or that? Everyone has heard this said at least 10 times in their lives. It is a silly thought when you think about it. There is no going back. And, if there was a reset button in life, what would be the use in living.

What should truly be concentrated upon is the here and now and the future. Where are you in life right now? What are your plans for the next 5 minuets, not the next five years. These are the questions that one should ask himself, or herself.

Time travel is just a fantasy presently. There is no magic ship that will take you back to 1975, Bridget, when you graduated from high school. You can't go back to the day before you dropped out of Junior College Michell, back during the civil rights movement. You are here. You are now.

What one needs to do is Change the Mind in order to Change ones Life. Instead of pipe dreaming about what could have been, start using your brain, training you brain to make a new reality for yourself. Use your brain to make things happen in your life.

Our brains are capable of unbelievable achievements. Just look around yourself. The home you are in right now was a thought in a persons mind. Your favorite coffee spot where they charge you $5.oo for a cup of joe, excuse me, premium beans, was a thought in ones brain. The car, train, or bus that you ride to work in was a thought in ones brain. These thoughts and innovations made a change in the world. What makes those peoples thoughts any different than your thoughts? I'll tell you. They put their thoughts into action.

Change your mind from I can't, maybe, some day, into I will, no doubt, and today and watch how fast you begin to achieve what ever it is that you want to achieve. Tell yourself that I can do it, I will do it, nothing will stop me, and watch your life change.

Life is all about conditioning. Repeated stimuli molds the soul either positively or negatively. If you tell yourself that it is going to be hard sometimes but I will make my dreams come true and you make the effort to do so, there is a high probability that you will achieve. But on the other hand, if you feed yourself dread and self doubt, there is almost nothing that will stop you from not achieving. Doom and dread are the killers of achievement.

Change your mind from thinking that everything has to happen for you right now. Most good things in life take time. There are no over night successes. Real progress takes time. It takes planning. Change you mind to think in steps, and don't take any short cuts.

Change your mind into a machine that believes in itself no matter what anybody says. Make that machine force you to set objectives that turn into goals that turn into achievements. This is the key. Make the change that will change your life.

There are really no excuses in life. No one believes people that have an excuse for everything. You have to take control of you. You have to take control of your future. No one else is going to do it for you. You have to change you. There is no going back. There is only experience you gain from the past. There is no reset button. Life is now! Life is not yesterday!

We all know that there are tremendous strains in our day to day. There are economic situations that seem to overwhelm us. Money is tight. Bills are stacking up. Less time relaxing. More time worrying. Stop Letting This Get In Your Way Of A Good Life. Change your way of thinking. Teach yourself that you will make it no matter if you have to live out of your car, in a park, next to a dumpster. As long as you have wind in your lungs, you have a chance to turn your life around. There are going to be bad times. But, how you handle those bad times makes the difference of being admitted into a mad house, or making a plan to put you into a brand new house better than the one you lost. It will be done. You can do it.

If you are healthy, and breathing you have no excuses. As a matter of fact, if you are alive and have a reasonable thinking capacity, you have no excuses in life. There are people that have stage 4 cancer that are making it day to day with a smile on their faces because they have decided to use every ounce of energy to live a good life to the end. There are people who are dying of Aids that have changed their minds into fighting to live out each day to the best of their ability. There are people coming home from the war with arms and legs missing. But, they are changing and adapting to their disabilities and are thriving because they decided that they want to live a good life. Their brains are a machine of change and possibilities. There are homeless people who are using their creative abilities to start businesses raising money in creative, legal, ways. So tell me. What's you excuse?

You have everything you need locked inside your head. It is said that we only use 10% of our brains. Imagine if we used 1% more every day. Imagine the possibilities.

It is as easy as this. Change Your Mind. Change Your Life!

Stand Up America! (Don't Accept The Hot Dog)

I just had a discussion with a couple of friends about the current economic crisis in the United States. Michelle gave a speech about how so many people complain about their job situation and how it is revolting to hear them. I said that the reason we are in such a horrible trouble is because Americans have ,for so many years, not been paying attention to what was going on right under our noses. We have been stupid citizens that did not do our civic duty. We did not pay attention to the game that was afoot.


The reason that we are in trouble is lack of care. We did not care about our jobs because we had one. We did not care about what was being done to a fellow employee because it was not happening to us. We didn’t care if the next man or woman was in need because we were not in need. We did not care how the gas prices were rising because we had a little extra change in our pockets . But, that has all changed.


Now, due to the gas and housing crisis, and the war that is killing the youth of America, we are all in the same boat. Now most Americans are trying to decide how to spend our money. Should we buy gas or food? We are asking ourselves questions that have not been asked since the Great Depression.; where will I live “when” the bank takes my home? These Are serious questions.

While I understand Michelle’s’ position, I do not agree with it. People should complain about having a raise instead of hotdogs at the union hall. People should still complain to their union rep when they are not getting what they are entitled to by their agreed upon M. O.U. . This is part of the problem in the country right now.


We know that people are losing not just their jobs. They are losing every thing. But, ask yourself is this a part of the plan to keep Americans off balance and terrified that we will lose every thing we own in order to have us work harder longer hours for less money? Is it the plan to put so much pressure and stress on working Americans to cause us to just go along with the program and say nothing when we are mistreated and under paid? Isn’t it a plan to keep our young over seas fighting a war that we will never win because there are filthy rich men and women that are making un-heard of amounts of money off of the blood of our children while their children are safe at home?


We are in the situation that we are because we were to busy thinking of right now and not the future. We are in this situation because we saw it coming but we were to lazy or scared to stand up and say something or do something about the situation in the early stages. We were living it up in a false world being manipulated by the powers that be. Now we are being toyed with like a cat with a mouse in it’s claws. We are being played like a two stringed violin, all wrong.


Now! Why should you care? Because you are in the cross hairs. You may be next if you do not stand up and fight for what’s right. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should not just be a phrase that we hear during an election year. It should be, as it was supposed to be, the plan. You should care because teachers in California, the trainers of the future, are being thrown out into the streets . You should care about these teachers because if you think crime is bad now, wait until a whole generation of ignorant children turn to crime to survive. YOU SHOULD CARE! .


AMERICA COMPLAIN! Kick , scream, and demand a better life! Don’t accept the hot dog. Demand change. Care about the future. Stand up and fight for what is right no matter what. Make this government work for you. Make your local and federal government understand that we are their boss, not the other way around. Stop being lazy and scared. Stand up and fight! Stand up and fight! Stand up and fight for your life America! Don't accept the hot dog!

A Contiuation Of A Conversation On Hip-Hop

I was recently asked by a reader, Albert, to discuss which hip-hop artist I would consider good, bad, and in between. Well first off, I will say that I am by no means disrespecting any artists abilities. I am only giving my thoughts on the state of hip-hop as I see it. It is my opinion, as far as main stream, hip-hop is lost in the darkness. But there are a few artists that have seen the light.

The artists that I believe has shown to be an individual as of late is Common. This man has been putting together well thought out material but has been over looked by the main stream. His lyrics are thought provoking and insightful. He is a very intelligent man. He is also one who is a master of the live show. He gives all of himself through every song that he performs. His music is full of heart and wisdom. He is a genius at his craft. There is no other like him. He is in a class all by himself. It is about time he is recognized for his great talent.

Another artist that is true hip-hop is Mos Def. Another genius at his craft, Mos Def spins a web of aptitude that draws the listener in like a light house to a lost sailor. He is a deep thinker with an activists heart. The listener becomes a part of the experience, not just an audience member. Every lyric is felt and absorbed. The mind is lifted. The soul is nourished .

KRS 1 is of course a crowd mover. Since the day way back, this man has been a lyricist of the highest caliber. His catalog is like hip-hop past present and future. The depth of his knowledge seems unmatched . His words are golden. His stories are hard core with out being ignorant. He is a teacher. He is an entertainer. He is the truth. No matter what the industry says, KRS 1 will always be the man to go to for true, real, positive hop-hop.

MC Lyte! This woman is not only the best “female” rapper to ever hit the studio , or the stage. She is one of the best artists in hip-hop period. Lyte has always put thought into her music. She is very conscience. She is motivating. She is inspiring. Positively one of the brightest stars in the industry. Lyte is an Icon in the hip-hop world. MC Lyte is the Queen of hip-hop.

As far as bad artists are concerned, I will put it this way. Most of the people you hear on the radio and see in videos are, let’s say, below standards. If you listen to top 40 radio, as I have said earlier in my first post, the five artists that are rotated daily are artists who lack quality writing skills. They feed the audience empty calories. They feed candy to the listener . They feed abnormalities. They feed greed and sexual garbage. They feed murder and ignorance. They feed death and destruction . I do not have to name these people. Just tune your radio to any so called hip-hop station and you will hear the artists that I write about.

Albert wanted to know who the in between artists as I see them. I are no in between artists that I can think of at this time. Some would say that NAS switches back and forth from positive to negative. But, if you really listen to NAS’ lyrics you will notice that his stories teach. There are no empty calories in NAS. There is more knowledge than thug glorification.

Ice Cube is another artists that gives knowledge. From the days of NWA, Cube has always taught with his style of rap. At first glance you would think that Cube is just rapping about bangin and slangin. But listen close to the outcome of his stories. Most of his work is an observation of street life. He is a street reporter unlike others who just do what I like to call “writing to fit in” Most people these days just write to fit into the industry. Cube is in no way one of these types of artists. He does not write for a committee. He writes what he sees from the heart. Others write what they are told to write. Or, they have goast writers write for them. And they call themselves artists?

So, there it is there. The good. The bad. The in between.



Keep Using Your Brains Yall

Peace To My People

I’m out

A Response To A Conversation I Had On Hiphop/Rap Music

I'm so glad to see that there are still some of us that use our minds. This mental pollution that is spreading all over the air waves is causing minds to turn into a self-hating, materialistic soup that is leading to the massive heart attack in our collective selves. Our pulse is getting weaker. We are about to code. We are slowly being conditioned to chase the dollar at all cost. We are putting dubs and chains in front of education and the true good life, which is family and close friendship.

These days if you're not bangin thug and showin yo a.., you're a punk. If you're not braggin about what you have, you're some kind of loser. If you're not talking about laying down with some body and taking chances with your life, you've got no game. Well let me tell you from experience, the Labels, the print media, film and TV want you to believe that all of the above is true. But let me tell you, it is all a part of a plan.

The plan is to keep your mind busy with bullsh... That way you are not a threat. They keep us dancing to catchy songs with B.S. hooks that say truly nothing but foolishness and destruction. Look. The number one children's learning tool is Hooked On Phonics. I wonder why? It's because music goes into the subconscious. That is where all of the information is truly stored. They know what they are doing. It's just sad that some artist would rather make money than use their God given talent to teach while they entertain.

Listen to any given radio station at any given time. You will hear the same five songs played in different order. Listen to the content. What do you hear? How do you feel after hearing the same five songs? Does the music help you while it entertains you? Remember. You mind hears every thing and absorbs every word even though you may not know it. Remember the old saying? Garbage in garbage out? And we wonder why our young is dying in the streets every day trying to keep up with each others greed, or trying to out thug each other? These are our babies that we are losing to the pen and the grave. We should care even if no one else does.

Now I'm not saying that every song should preach. But, what I am saying is every song should not put our people in a mind set that will continue to cause the destruction of our people. It should help our people grow as it entertains. Why is there so much pride in being one of the people holding us back, jailing us, killing us. Why is being ignorant so cool? I just don't get it.

There are artist out there that can handle the job of both keeping the party going and teaching at the same time. This is no sales pitch, but I am one of them. No, I'm no mega star. But I have excellent work that I will be making available in the months to come. If you are interested, leave me a note and I will give you more information. But don't stop with me. Seek out the artists that are trying to bring us along. They are out there.

No one will ever replace Pac. It just won't happen. But we owe it to ourselves to make our concerns known to the Record Companies that there is a market for true music. Let the media know that we deserve better music, film, and TV productions. Let them know that we are tired of the poison. We deserve better!


Thank you for taking the time to read me.

Keep using your brains yall.

Love to my people.

I'm out.